Developing "Tennis Elbow" Tendonitis

Has anyone battled tennis elbow, tendonitis? Thoughts, solutions toffer?

This summer I have develpoped tennis elbow shooting and the cause is obvious to me. I purchased a coupe of S&W 6" barrel revolvers (K38 and M1955 25-2) to give revolvers a whirl and to take up a season with my wad gun at Baers for repair.

It seems their is greater torque from the revolvers length or weight distribution vs 1911's. The solution seems obvious, stop shooting revolvers. But I'm not that kind of guy just to give up, plus I like these revolvers.

I have a strap thing my orthopod gave for a knee tendonitis and I know to ice afterwards (though don't always do it). I took about 10 days off and that was no help. Sigh...

My doctor said to wear the strap as much as possible to avoid micro-tears that can occur throughout the day. I no longer have the pain but continue to use the strap for shooting, weight training, any lifting, etc.

Tendinitis becomes a constant struggle if you don't fully beat it. 

I struggled for the last few years. What helped was shooting less pistol (more rifle). I also greatly cut my training schedule. I do a lot more visualization now. My elbow is getting better. 

Wear the band and talk to a physical therapist to design drills to help with managing the wheel gun weight distribution.

I had both tennis elbow and golfers elbow at the same time for years.  The difference between each one is which side of the elbow bump the tendons are on.

The band and Naproxen (allieve) is what you need to start with.  Wear it all day and leave it off at night.

A sports medicine physical therapist will help you with the correct exercises to strengthen the muscles to keep the problem from coming back.

Thanks gents, it never occurred to me to wear the band all day. I'm fortunate to have access to PT's at work.

The wheel guns may have to become fun guns with 2 hands for a while, though it feels unnatural to shoot them  with 2 hands. I seem to favor using 1 hand with the left supporting the weight from below the butt.

I went to see my doctor for a routine check up. He noticed I was wearing a tennis elbow strap. I explained that I was a bullseye and air gun shooter. He recommended that I continue to wear the strap even at night. He also mentioned to wear it as high up on the arm as possible and still be able to bend the arm. I tried that and it has helped greatly. I will never shoot agin without it on my arm.

I would only wear the band 24/7 with a Doctor's direction.  I wore mine very tight and I would worry about bloodflow problems.  My doc wanted it off to leave the tendons in a natural relaxed state at night.

i battled it for years (and still do along with something very wrong in both shoulders)
couldnt even pick up a coffee cup
lots of band wearing (i recommend getting several different types of bands to keep it switched up)

"hey Doc it hurts when i do this!" "then dont do that"
thats how you get it under control

I had a wicked case of tennis elbow a few years ago and nothing worked.  Physical therapy hurt and didn't cure it.  It was in my right arm so not using it was very difficult.  I could not hold a gun with my right hand at all.  Even a cup of coffee was painful.  Someone pointed out this article to me NY Times Tennis Elbow.  If you have problems with the link, search for NY Time Tennis Elbow fix.
I bought a "Thera-Band Flexbar" from amazon and did the exercises 2-3 x a day for 2 weeks and the pain disappeared.  It worked for me and was amazing.  What is weird is that physical therapists and doctors don't seem to be aware of it. 
Good luck, I hope it works for you.

johncorcoran wrote: What is weird is that physical therapists and doctors don't seem to be aware of it. 

yeah just like they put me thru 4 months of torture doing therapy on my elbow
when it really was a pinched nerve in my neck (titanium plate and some screws fixed that)

I have had bad experience with certain physical therapists also.  I have found much better results at "sports medicine" specialists.

This may not be your exact symptom, and I'm no doctor, but sometimes I will get pain at the top of my forearm by my elbow associated with using my gripping muscles a lot, whether from shooting or using weights.

What often gets forgotten is that our muscles need to work both ways, if we only worked out our pushing muscles, they would start to seize up if we didn't work out our pulling muscles to stretch them out.  We get out of balance when one set of muscles gets too strong and stresses the other set, causing pain.

Long story short, if its possible that the pain is associated with the stress on your muscles from gripping the pistol, try doing some exercises to work on the opposite of that motion.  I take a thick rubber band from the broccoli or asparagus at the grocery store and put it around my fingers and try to extend my fingers to stretch out the rubber band.  This works your extensor (I think that's what theyre called) muscles and helps to alleviate the stress on the  muscles associated with your grip.

Jkvandal wrote:This may not be your exact symptom, and I'm no doctor, but sometimes I will get pain at the top of my forearm by my elbow associated with using my gripping muscles a lot, whether from shooting or using weights.

What often gets forgotten is that our muscles need to work both ways, if we only worked out our pushing muscles, they would start to seize up if we didn't work out our pulling muscles to stretch them out.  We get out of balance when one set of muscles gets too strong and stresses the other set, causing pain.

Long story short, if its possible that the pain is associated with the stress on your muscles from gripping the pistol, try doing some exercises to work on the opposite of that motion.  I take a thick rubber band from the broccoli or asparagus at the grocery store and put it around my fingers and try to extend my fingers to stretch out the rubber band.  This works your extensor (I think that's what theyre called) muscles and helps to alleviate the stress on the  muscles associated with your grip.

When I was going through my troubles, a guy at work that was a former tennis pro (his father was a doctor) recommended this to me. It's perfect for alternating with dumbbell work during conference calls.

An arm band, ice and anti-inflammatory medication (aspirin) are your friends with shooters elbow. Specific stretching exercises are a great preventative. I like to stretch out the shoulders and forearms every day and especially on shooting days. There are various stretching exercises out there. Here are some examples: http://www.military.com/military-fitness/workouts/stretching-plan

Tennis elbow is also referred to as shooters elbow.  Bottom line is that it is a terrible injury that can take sometime to overcome.

I came across an article that may help you and others out.

http://www.tenniselbowtips.com/blog/shooters-elbow/

Good luck.
Gary

garyhunter wrote:Tennis elbow is also referred to as shooters elbow.  Bottom line is that it is a terrible injury that can take sometime to overcome.

I came across an article that may help you and others out.

http://www.tenniselbowtips.com/blog/shooters-elbow/

Good luck.
Gary

I listened for about 1 minute until it didn't get to the point. Is this just another infomercial?

Yes it was.... he want's you to buy his book and videos... Never tells you anything...

Garyhunter,

Did you use the program that you linked to?
The ad REEKS of snake oil sales tactics.

Be  very careful.. The woman that shoots for me eventually required surgery.. Her tendon is now secured with screws.
Had to switch to lefty, and have the gun(s) completely reconfigured...she went to numerous doctors and therapists. Nothing worked .. She followed the advice religiously, icing, before, after and did the recommended exercises..and anti inflamitories..  Her arm went down completely 30 days before Perry, several years ago.. 
Jerry

I had strained bicep ligaments of my right arm which is now 100% recovered after 3 1/2 months.  However, I developed this tennis elbow tendonitis of my left arm 3 weeks ago.  Thanks for sharing your experiences.  What ever happened to the "Golden" in the Golden Years?  Let me know if anyone is interested in how I took care of my bicep strain.

Norman

garyhunter wrote:snip

I came across an article that may help you and others out.

http://www.tenniselbowtips.com/blog/shooters-elbow/

snip

I poked around on the blog on that website and eventually you can find four exercises explained without purchasing anything: wrist curls, hands together like praying moving vertically stretches, back of hands together moving vertically stretches, and palm down wrist stretches. I tried to glean as much as possible trying to run the blog entries to the end while suppressing the gag reflex from all the marketing hype.

The rehabilitation exercises on http://www.nismat.org/patients/injury-evaluation-treatment/other-upper-body/tennis-elbow-lateral-and-medial-epicondylitis look like a better path for shooters to follow. I use them due to the grip angle of my free pistol makes my arm muscles scream and I am too stubborn to stop trying to shoot it. I've seen several of these exercises individually from the stretching exercise program at my job and from exercises recommended by a chiropractor who shoots.

I want to offer another thought here.   The revolvers may not be causing your tennis elbow through torque.    They may be causing it through the grip you have to use on them.  
     I have always found the grip on a revolver to be extremely awkward, and I suspect, unless you are using anatomical grips, there is a tendency to over grip the gun.
     Over gripping is what caused a case of tennis elbow that I developed two years ago.  
    It is totally gone now, although I still use the strap occasionally if my arm gets even slightly sore.  
     I started going to a Sports medicine doctor a couple of years ago.   He put me on quite a few dietary supplements, and I really think they are helping with a number of things, that I thought were just the inevitable result of aging.  
   My night vision is even improving, and I seem to be less easily injured.

xmastershooter wrote:I had strained bicep ligaments of my right arm which is now 100% recovered after 3 1/2 months.  However, I developed this tennis elbow tendonitis of my left arm 3 weeks ago.  Thanks for sharing your experiences.  What ever happened to the "Golden" in the Golden Years?  Let me know if anyone is interested in how I took care of my bicep strain.

Norman

I have severe rotator cuff damage & muscle tear(s). For the last almost 3 yrs I am just able to shoot 50 60 rds w/shots that are generally on the paper. I get a lot of pain at the top of the bicep which Doc says is shoulder pain radiating.

Possibly what you did for your bicep would help?

Ron Habegger

Hi Ron,

I posted the strain of my bicep ligaments in the Bullseye list a couple of months ago and received a number of replies and support. Thank you list!

My take home summary from these replies is do not cause more damage by continuing activities which may further do more harm.  Rest is next, and then physical therapy by a knowledgeable person is a must. 

I couldn't lift up my pistols or even a glass of water without pain. So, no live fire or dry fire.  Responses from listmembers ranged from years of pain without improvement to pain "gone" after one physical therapy session.

I visited a Certified Orthopedic Massage Therapist.  I showed him exactly where the pain was the greatest and he applied heavy pressure and pressed the ligament down and out several times.  It was so painful that I started laughing.  Yes, my reaction to pain is different than most.  He asked that I do this at home and that what I have is common.

Immediately, my arm range of motion was better and with less pain than before.  There were daily improvement to my symptoms and I was 100% back to normal after about a month.

You may want to consult with your doctor first to see if this would be the right course of action for you.  It worked for me but I wouldn't want anyone to injure themselves if done without supervision.

Norman

When I was chasing my distinguished points.  I shot my DR for Centerfire, and my hardball gun for .45.  The gripping muscle is what causes tendonitis.  It got bad enough I had to lay off shooting.  Must let it heal or it will come back with a vengeance.  At one point I couldn't drink a cup of coffee or open a door knob with my right hand. 
My advice, see a specialist.  I was involved in therapy and while it was not pleasant I can still shoot and have no Long standing ill effects.  When I layed off shooting it was difficult to do nothing.  I practiced left handed and shot one match lefty.  It felt weird but I got past it.