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I am finally pain free. Here's how I beat it - PRP
http://archersparadoxdotorg.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/elbow-tendonitis-and-prp/
http://archersparadoxdotorg.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/elbow-tendonitis-and-prp/
Elbow Tendonitis? Here's how I beat it.
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? Not sure what you mean Phil. Initially, I agree. I did everything wrong, but how do you mean that the PRP and rest then strengthening was "wrong."
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Jimmy, for a moment there I thought you were going to recommend a tour in Afghanistan as a fix for a bum elbow! 
Never heard of the procedure you described. Glad to hear your elbow's doing better.
When are you due back in the States?
Never heard of the procedure you described. Glad to hear your elbow's doing better. When are you due back in the States?
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995 Posts
Jimmy,
Glad it worked for you. Tendonitis is a nagging condition that generally requires alot of rest and avoidance of the activity that induced pain. Often just resting is not enough. It appears your PRP treatment aided in the healing process. Once you can axhieve pain free range of motion, introduction of strengthening is next, followed by careful resumption of the activity that caused the problem in the first place.
If you are pain free then you are on the right path. If pain starts to reoccur, then rest immediately and ease back into the activity when pain subsides.
Good luck.
Glad it worked for you. Tendonitis is a nagging condition that generally requires alot of rest and avoidance of the activity that induced pain. Often just resting is not enough. It appears your PRP treatment aided in the healing process. Once you can axhieve pain free range of motion, introduction of strengthening is next, followed by careful resumption of the activity that caused the problem in the first place.
If you are pain free then you are on the right path. If pain starts to reoccur, then rest immediately and ease back into the activity when pain subsides.
Good luck.
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When I was playing racquetball 3-4 times a week and working on the computer all day, I'd predictably get tendonitis at times. Besides constantly bending my hand backwards (which helped with acute pain), what led to healing every single time was this brace one wears in front on the forearm:
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What works so well with this thing is that the brace itself doesn't have to be all that tight (thus preserving one's circulation); the hard tubular strap that goes over the top however is adjustable, and can be tightened to keep the forearm from moving there (which lets the tendons rest while still being able to use your arm). It's "cured" my problem a dozen times over the years, and using it I've never had to stop activity altogether (played in tournaments even).
What works so well with this thing is that the brace itself doesn't have to be all that tight (thus preserving one's circulation); the hard tubular strap that goes over the top however is adjustable, and can be tightened to keep the forearm from moving there (which lets the tendons rest while still being able to use your arm). It's "cured" my problem a dozen times over the years, and using it I've never had to stop activity altogether (played in tournaments even).
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Time off was not healing my injury. They did an MRI and said that I had a partial tear in the tendon, but my body was not trying to heal it. I injured it because I just would not take time off. I needed months to let it begin really healing. The PRP stimulated the healing process. I didn't do anything until I could tell that it was getting better then I slowly began doing exercise that didn't hurt the arm. After a while I noticed it feeling better and better so I contented to do more exercises. Now, am doing a normal working to include tricep extension, push downs, kickback and for bicep work curls of all types. Benching no longer hurts and I have worked on my forearm as well. I feel great right now and I'll have another 6 months of no shooting so hopefully by the time I shoot a bow again I will be 100% healed.
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Les, those braces work well. They are another good option. They allow the tendon to rest by changing the leverage point at which the muscles pull. Usually the muscle will pull at the tendon which is attached to the bone. Tendonitis occurs when the tendon begins to tear or pull away from the bone. By wearing the brace distal of the tendon (below the elbow) you change the point of pulling to occur before the tendon and therefore decrease the amount of stress on the tendon. The brace is also a good option to wear during activity to prevent reoccurrence tendonitis.
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Jimmy this is good news for you, and others that get this. Im curious, were you weight lifting prior and during when the episode reared its ugly head, or were you only shooting your bow? By working out, can one effectively prevent this sort of injury, that I thought was more of a repetative nature type of injury? My elbow hurt the other day towards the end of shooting my first long session of Oly. I removed the weight/long rod the next day and the pain hasnt shown up again. Should I start working out before introducing the longrod again, or just limit my time using it till I hopefully build up a tolerance for the additional weight? My pain was bottom/inner if you held your arm out, elbow up. Tennis elbow typically affects outside/forearm right?
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Years ago I fractured a vertebra in my neck. It seemingly healed okay, but by 2005 it started to bother me. I had trouble sleeping etc. By 2010 it was bad. It finally got so bad that when I'd bench press my right arm would go up easily and my left would collapse. I quit lifting. After a few weeks I could not turn my head to the left or look up. They did an MRI and said that I had a disk that was complete disintegrated. They think flying a helicopter for all these years did it - the resonance.
I got the disk replacement and in physical therapy they told me that my left side had atrophied badly over the years. The nerves were not making the muscles fire. My tricep, bicep, shoulder, trap everything was very weak. It was at at that time that my elbow started hurting. I think that I had no muscle support structure to speak of so the vibration from the bow went directly into my bones. The elbow was inflamed bad.
I always knew I needed to get healthy enough to lift again and get that side strengthened back up, but my elbow was so pissed off by that point that is was impossible. It took all of the aforementioned stuff to get back to lifting, but yes, I think lifting is very good preventative medicine. It helps support your joints.
I would limit the amount of shooting you do and try to lift, but go slow. See what you can tolerate. At the end of the day it took me three full months of not shooting an arrow and the PRP.
I got the disk replacement and in physical therapy they told me that my left side had atrophied badly over the years. The nerves were not making the muscles fire. My tricep, bicep, shoulder, trap everything was very weak. It was at at that time that my elbow started hurting. I think that I had no muscle support structure to speak of so the vibration from the bow went directly into my bones. The elbow was inflamed bad.
I always knew I needed to get healthy enough to lift again and get that side strengthened back up, but my elbow was so pissed off by that point that is was impossible. It took all of the aforementioned stuff to get back to lifting, but yes, I think lifting is very good preventative medicine. It helps support your joints.
I would limit the amount of shooting you do and try to lift, but go slow. See what you can tolerate. At the end of the day it took me three full months of not shooting an arrow and the PRP.
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You can't leave us hanging like this. What was wrong?
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The pressure bands can work great on the front end of tendentious, mild cases and even continued use once a flare up calms down. But if you over use it to the point of it turning chronic no band will help. Rest, therapy, re strengthening and time.
29 years of factory work tuned mine into chronic in both elbows. Bands, maxed out injections, PT and more PT. Last year finally went to a specialist and was given 3 choices. 1. Surgery on both elbows 40% full recovery 40% partial recovery and 20% no relief.
2. Get what Jimmy got the PRP treatment. Insurance would not cover and at $500 per treatment and would have 2-3 treatments per elbow way out of my families budget.
3. Intense PT with some new treatments. Went with that for a little over a year. First 3 months 3 times per week then moved down to 2 per week 5 months and then to once per week.
Long story short listen to your body on the front end. Taking a short break from what ever causes you pain is a lot quicker on the front end then if you continually try and plow through the pain.
29 years of factory work tuned mine into chronic in both elbows. Bands, maxed out injections, PT and more PT. Last year finally went to a specialist and was given 3 choices. 1. Surgery on both elbows 40% full recovery 40% partial recovery and 20% no relief.
2. Get what Jimmy got the PRP treatment. Insurance would not cover and at $500 per treatment and would have 2-3 treatments per elbow way out of my families budget.
3. Intense PT with some new treatments. Went with that for a little over a year. First 3 months 3 times per week then moved down to 2 per week 5 months and then to once per week.
Long story short listen to your body on the front end. Taking a short break from what ever causes you pain is a lot quicker on the front end then if you continually try and plow through the pain.
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You are right, I've never had to try to heal anything like what you, the OP and others describe. I hope I never suffer that, but if I do it's good to know about PRP.
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I came across a post that seems to be fitting to this forum and help those suffering from elbow tendonitis, tennis elbow aka lateral epicondylitis...
http://www.tenniselbowtips.com/blog/archers-elbow/
Hope this helps at least one of you guys.
Good luck.
Gary
http://www.tenniselbowtips.com/blog/archers-elbow/
Hope this helps at least one of you guys.
Good luck.
Gary
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I just lost 25 min. of my life that I will never get back. I thought it was a sales pitch all along but I hung in there for 25 min. and then sure enough he's trying to sell you something.
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I dredged this up to add to the knowledge base. I've been suffering with elbow tendonitis since April- now October and I finally beat it. i got a cortisone shot early on from my regular physician and it helped for about 4 days- essentially worthless. I did the regimen of icing, physical therapy...and that works but it takes time except I didn't want to miss an elk hunting season so I started shooting a little [my compound as it didn't hurt as much as my recurve] which of course aggravated it again.
The physical therapy really helped but what finally worked is a process called "needling". The Ortho guy had a cortisone injection but he needled it in and out many times. That needling combined with daily icing, anti inflamatories [sulindac] and not using my arm at all -was what worked for me.
Hard to say exactly what worked but its an overuse thing and I think even driving with tension in my arm and working on the computer puts enough tension to keep it from healing. The docs insisted that the Sulindac, minor stretching and not using it will work, FWIW.
my advice, if you get a cortisone injection....have an ortho guy do it, it makes a difference.
The physical therapy really helped but what finally worked is a process called "needling". The Ortho guy had a cortisone injection but he needled it in and out many times. That needling combined with daily icing, anti inflamatories [sulindac] and not using my arm at all -was what worked for me.
Hard to say exactly what worked but its an overuse thing and I think even driving with tension in my arm and working on the computer puts enough tension to keep it from healing. The docs insisted that the Sulindac, minor stretching and not using it will work, FWIW.
my advice, if you get a cortisone injection....have an ortho guy do it, it makes a difference.
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Funny I was just talking to jimmy about this last night - I'm dealing with it and it sucks. Hurt the elbow throwing wood.
The only thing that hurts with archery is when the bow hits the finger sling at the end of the shot. Boy howdy does it hurt though found myself dropping my bow arm in anticipation of the pain.
Took three weeks off tried to shoot last night - no dice - I'll take a month of this time.
Yes I saw a doctor immediately
The only thing that hurts with archery is when the bow hits the finger sling at the end of the shot. Boy howdy does it hurt though found myself dropping my bow arm in anticipation of the pain.
Took three weeks off tried to shoot last night - no dice - I'll take a month of this time.
Yes I saw a doctor immediately
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yes it worked great for me, a few months rest then slow/easy use of the Powerball got me back shooting pain free. My GP was so impressed she bought 5 for her resident Physiotherapist.
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