Is anyone else double-jointed and get elbow pain?

FaileBashere

Hi all,

Just wondering, so I found out I am double-jointed (which in retrospect i should have noticed before). Anyways, this isn't normally painful or bothersome, but I have noticed that when I'm doing a lot of tricep/bicep work (free weights) my elbows start to hurt. At first I thought maybe I was over-extending, but I have paid careful attention that last few days to makesure I don't either overextend or even pull all the way in when I lift to prevent hurting my elbows...it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Has anyone else noticed this? It's not a sharp pain, it's a dull almost "bruiselike" feeling pain that is right near where the funny bone would be considered. Anyone else who is double-jointed experience this? I decided to take a day off to rest them and see if it goes away.

Chieflrg

How much volume are you doing on iso arm work?

firef1y72

I'm assuming that by "double jointed" you mean hypermobile. I have hypermobility and thanks to years of injuring myself I have pain in all my joints. I, personally find that the first few reps of any set are the most painful and then it eases as the joint in question warms up. So when I'm doing bi or hammer curls, yes my elbow hurts for maybe the first set. I can reduce the amount of pain by taking extra care to warm up and after a year of working on it I'd say there's a 50% reduction in pain level.

What you need to remember is that our muscles have to work extra hard just to keep our joints in place and all that extra work can mean they are resistant to certain movements that could destabilise the joint. Many people think hypermobility/double-jointed means more flexible but because we are constantly protecting joints and have scar tissue from injuries we often have a smaller range of motion. This can be improved though with careful stretching, course warming up properly and strengthening the muscles themselves.

glassofroses

You need to strengthen the muscles that hold the joints in place. The best person to ask is a physiotherapist as they can give you a range of exercises to help but until then I'd maybe go a bit lighter on the weights and don't lock out your joints. There's for and against when it comes to hypermobility and joint locking, but I find keep a slight bend protects me a little better.

At the end of the day, there's no point in lifting heavy weights/curling/extending etc only to injury yourself. Prevention is better than rehab. I should know as I tore all the ligaments in my ankle as a kid because of my hypermobility and it still gives me crap almost 20 years later.

beautifulwarrior18

Your biceps and triceps are tight and pulling on your elbow causing pain in your elbow. You need to allieviate the muscle tension. Take a lacrosse ball and roll out your triceps and biceps (you can Google how) at least 2x a day (fyi,it will probably hurt like hell but its the one time pain is good). You'll be amazed at the difference.

SoozeE512

I just found out in the last couple of years that I have hypermobility all over my body (explained so many injuries!). So I'm still relatively new to this, but it sounds like you've already received some good advice here -- warm up before you do strength training, and do light stretching or massaging if you need to relieve tension in muscles. I also find it helps to put heat on after workouts to relax the muscles, or put ice on areas that feel overworked and tender.

If something you're working on seems to be causing pain every time, consider using lighter weights or decrease the number of sets/reps to something more comfortable/manageable.

I agree with the person who said that prevention is better than rehab. I spent 7 months last year in physical therapy because of a strain all through my triceps that extended from tendon at the shoulder, through the muscle, and down to the tendon at the elbow. My range of motion was severely limited for about the first 2 months....and through the course of trying to recover, I got mild strains in just about every other tendon in my arms that were trying to overcompensate for the bigger injury. Needless to say, it was extremely painful. But I've worked through it and am able to do things now that I hadn't even been capable of before because I've been smarter about building up my strength at a more reasonable pace for my body.

So take it slow and build up your strength gradually over time. Really listen to what your body is telling you! Trying to do too much too fast is a recipe for disaster!