[Tim Bert]

Any homemade miracle cures out there?  I'm three weeks from Bandon, I'm playing the best golf I've played in 6 years, and my elbow is throbbing with pain - and getting slightly worse each week.

Any ideas other than rest?  It hurts, but it doesn't hurt so bad that I can't play and I don't want to put my game on the shelf right now.

[Steve_Lemmon]

I had my new clubs built with the metal shafts that included tension dampeners and it fixed the problem. Cost me a little feel on the chip shots, however.  

[Mike_Young]

I had my new clubs built with the metal shafts that included tension dampeners and it fixed the problem. Cost me a little feel on the chip shots, however.  

If the dampener created a feel for your chipping then you may need to sandpaper your fingers......too delicate for me....

[Marty Bonnar]

Tim,
you have my sympathies, but I'm so glad that it isn't just me.

My inner left elbow ACHES permanently just now. Been about three months now. Because of it, I have hardly played any golf so far this season save the REVTOC week and some with Herr Doktor und Frau Redan.

EVERY morning I wake in agony.

I hate getting old...

FBD

PS Herr Doktor, are you remembering your cure promise???

[Wayne Freeman]

Tim-  I really feel for you.  I've had epicondylitis in both arms at times and have it chronically in my left.  If you have pain on the inner aspect of your elbow you do indeed have golfer's elbow.  Outer aspect would be so called tennis elbow, but golfers get both.  Rest, ice and anti-inflammatory meds can help the acute problem, but if it is really bad you might need a steroid injection to quiet the inflammation.
   The worst thing you can do with this condition is hit balls off of mats, especially if they are hard.  The reverb off of them might be as much as a 1000 times that of turf.  A lot of weight lifting in the acute phase will also aggravate it a lot.
    If you see an orthopedist he may recommend an injection-  other therapy might include ultrasound, electrical stimulation (tens unit), stretching exercises and physical therapy.
   I have found  a terrific arm band to help take tension off the tendon -  I actually wear it pretty much all the time-  it's called Band-It and you can order it on line.  I get the one with magnets although I don't know if that makes any difference.  If you have any trouble finding it e mail me.  I also have my own tens unit to put on when it acts up.  
         
   

[Tim Bert]

Martin & Wayne,

Maybe I just need a support group!  Thanks for weighing in.  Mine doesn't sound as bad as either of yours (yet), though it is definitely on the inside part of the elbow and it is pretty constant.  As I said, it isn't so bad that it is keeping me off the course.  Just keeping me whining about it to my wife in the evening.

I just switched to my older set of irons about 6 weeks ago.  I think that is driving a good bit of it because they are really jarring my elbow when I stirke the ground.  At the same time, they are improving my game, so I'm committed to them for now.  I just took them in to have them re-gripped.  The old ones were rock hard with no give.  I'm hoping something a tad more squishy will help the impact without blowing up my game.  We'll see if it helps.  If not, July is slated for some rest when I return from Oregon and it is obnoxiously humid here.

[astavrides]

stretching exercises and arm bands

[Matthew Hunt]

Wrist rotations with weights should help.

[wsmorrison]

Scott Anderson, the superintendent's at Huntingdon Valley CC in Pennsylvania, was a great help to me.  He is very knowledgeable about alternative healing practices and his wife is an excellent wellness practitioner.  I have had all sorts of problems from golfer's elbow, wrist and severe shoulder problems (stemming from multiple shoulder separations and rotator cuff issues) including the dreaded frozen shoulder.  

I was the biggest skeptic about their approach, but I was desperate for it to work as I joined a new golf club and wanted to play (never mind that I couldn't even dress myself).  I went to see Susan Anderson and I've never been better.  Her website is:

http://www.seedsforchangewellness.com

I wear a personal harmonizer from Slim Spurling (under products menu selection on website) and call me crazy, but it works and helps my asthma as well.  I was astonished at the results of Susan's treatment, traditional physical therapy and the Spurling products.  I am so glad that I was desperate enough to try anything that I went with the alternative approaches.  They sped up my recovery by many months.  Consider it.

[cary lichtenstein]

Ice it, massage it, switch to graphite shafts in your irons, alter wyour swing a bit so your divot is tiny and not deep, hit only a a dozen balls before you go out and follow everything Wayne Freedman suggested.

[Adam Clayman]

The Doctors out there must be getting a pretty good chuckle.

Tim, You know that taking time off is the only smart thing to do. Precluding it from your therapy is, to be blunt, foolish.

But, If you are that desperate, try a copper bracelet. It may not help, but it can't hurt.

[Marty Bonnar]

Thanks be to GCA again.

On the strength of this thread, I took myself off to Boots and bought:

http://www.elastoplastsport.co.uk/tennis_elbow_support.php

and a tube of double strength Iboprufen Gel.

I've been wearing both since this afternoon. Bliss!

Whyowhy did I not do this earlier!?!?!

FBD.

[Tim Bert]

The Doctors out there must be getting a pretty good chuckle.

Tim, You know that taking time off is the only smart thing to do. Precluding it from your therapy is, to be blunt, foolish.

But, If you are that desperate, try a copper bracelet. It may not help, but it can't hurt.

Don't worry, Adam.  I'm not running out and getting any shots or surgery or anything like that.  

Consider this if you will -

Exhibit A: 6 scores prior to the pain - 96, 90, 93, 86, 91, 99
Exhibit B: 6 scores since the pain - 83, 86, 95, 80, 84, 83

Maybe the pain helps bring a little more focus to my game, or maybe I have some freaky tumor like Travoltra in Phenomenon that has unlocked a special "reduce your golf score" part of my elbow.

Must continue playing for now...

[Adam Clayman]

Tim, It is very common to play better golf when one is injured.

 The slowing of the swing is why.

Tim, You could do long term harm if you contnue to abuse in the face of negative consequense.

[James Bennett]

Thanks be to GCA again.

On the strength of this thread, I took myself off to Boots and bought:

http://www.elastoplastsport.co.uk/tennis_elbow_support.php

and a tube of double strength Iboprufen Gel.

I've been wearing both since this afternoon. Bliss!

Whyowhy did I not do this earlier!?!?!

FBD.

Martin

I hope you didn't damage your elbow from playing those shots off the paths and roadways at TOC and the New!

James B

[RichMacafee]

For what it's worth, it may be worthwhile getting an x-ray done on the elbow.

I struggled with a bad elbow for nearly 18 months at one point and had everything from massage, anti-inflams to accupuncture for my supposed 'tendonitis'.

I mentioned it to my GP when I was in for a different matter and he suggested an x-ray. Turns out I had 3 pieces of bone chip floting around in my elbow joint that had calcified and got bigger.

An arthriscope and 3 weeks rest to recover and it has been 100% ever since.

[JR Potts]

Sorry to hijack but what about shoulders?

I've been on the shelf for two and a half weeks now and I'm ready to flip.  My left shoulder feels like a knife is getting shoved in it by the end of the day.  In the morning, nothing...but 3 o'clock...pain.

It runs on the front of my shoulder and sometimes across my clavicle.  I can barely lift my arm above my head.

6/7/07 Dr. Appointment - I'm planning on playing despite the diagnosis...it's summer afterall.

[Tim Bert]

Tim, It is very common to play better golf when one is injured.

 The slowing of the swing is why.

Tim, You could do long term harm if you contnue to abuse in the face of negative consequense.

Adam - I appreciate the sincere concern.

I assure you my swing hasn't slowed down much; my regular playing partners could vouch for me there.  Just this past weekend a guy I've never played with before asked me "you don't leave much behind on the tee, do you?"

The more I read in this thread, the more I'm convinced my symptoms are pretty mild.  It's not like I'm playing through intolerable pain here with the need to dope up before I swing the club.  July isn't too far away.  Rest comes then!

[Mitch Hantman]

Here's my .02 worth on the subject.  Many people get similar symptoms due to different causes, therefore different treatments may work for each person.  For me, I had golfer's elbow about 20 years ago.  I tried physical therapy, rest, NSAID's, etc.  It helped, but after I returned to playing, symptoms returned.  (the cause was my swing).  The cure for me was taking a lesson with my pro, and discussing it with him.  He saw the swing flaw that was causing the pain.  By the end of the lesson, the pain was already less!

Cary L.- you know the pro!

[Peter Pallotta]

Tim
by any chance, do you also play tennis?
I ask because most of my friends have slight shoulder and elbow pains; the only one who's had both with any severity is the one who also plays tennis, pretty competitively.

(Me, it's only my back that bothers me, but I hurt it badly 25 years ago playing basketball and, foolishly, didn't give it a second thought. I guess I just assumed that it would get better on its own, or at least wouldn't get worse. Adam's words of caution are wise ones.)

Peter  

[Wayne_Kozun]

I came down with tennis elbow last year around Aug. 1 playing four days in a row.  The pain was on the outside of the elbow which is tennis elbow.  I kept playing, although less frequently, until about the middle to end of October and then I didn't play again until late March.   I also started physio in January.

I am now pretty much pain free but it took lots of rest and physio to heal me - hopefully you have a shorter recovery.

[Tim Bert]

I haven't played tennis in almost 20 years.  I'm pretty certain my symptoms were cause by the following:
1) At the beginning of April, I had only played once since December.
2) Starting in April, I began playing once a week and also swinging a weighted club about 4-5 times a week.
3) At the beginning of May, I switched to my old irons, and I can feel a significant difference (worse) at impact.
4) I had similar symptoms once earlier in my golfing days when I was playing very frequent golf one summer (also with these older irons) and it went way with 3 weeks off.  I'm pretty certain based on the location that it is just golf-related tendonitis.

As I mentioned, at least part of this (I think) was being cause by the grips, which were rock hard.  I pick up the new ones tomorrow afternoon, so I'll see if that helps.

[Kalen Braley]

Tim,

I would take the advice of Adam on this one and agree with his assesment on the other devices.  I've seen the studies where they have done double blind experiments on magnets/copper and other such items.  Best to save your money for physical rehab and rest it.

[Mark_F]

With all due respect to the medical minds that reside here, I wouldn't be following any of their advice about repetitive strain injuries.

I have had pretty much every musculoskeletal injury I think it is possible to have in the last 10 or 12 years, and their advice is next to useless, unless, as Rich points out, it is to check whether there is something else wrong.

You need to find a decent, old school physio.  Not one of the nancy boys they churn out of universities these days, but an old style one who believes in the basics of deep tissue massage and stretching.

Find someone who knows how to dig into you properly, and gives you two or three decent stretches, and then some strength work to follow up, and you will be as right as rain.

For medial epichondylitis, you can't go wrong by facing a wall, placing the palm of your injured limb against the wall at chest height to start, then slowly turning away until you feel a mild stretch along the inner forearm.  Hold it for a minute, rest thirty seconds, then do it again, maybe with your palm a little higher on the wall this time.  

Do it every hour while you are awake, and I guarantee it won't take long to go.  

 

[cary lichtenstein]

Sorry to hijack but what about shoulders?

I've been on the shelf for two and a half weeks now and I'm ready to flip.  My left shoulder feels like a knife is getting shoved in it by the end of the day.  In the morning, nothing...but 3 o'clock...pain.

It runs on the front of my shoulder and sometimes across my clavicle.  I can barely lift my arm above my head.

6/7/07 Dr. Appointment - I'm planning on playing despite the diagnosis...it's summer afterall.

Ryan:

Go to the doctor and find out what is wrong. And if it is a tear, get it fixed before you do more damage

Cary

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