Pole elbow--tendonitis?

kelly_e_montana

Anyone suffer from tennis or golfers' elbow (pain on outside or inside of elbow)? I guess it's tendonitis? Mine has been pretty intense. I ice when I get done with my pole fit instruction and I used anti-inflammatory pain relievers, as well as sometimes an elbow brace. Aside from quitting pole for a month or two, anyone have any tips? I am starting to get really strong in my upper body and am seeing great improvement, but my elbow pain is holding me back. To describe the pain, it last for about 2 hours after my pole class, peaking at a level where I shake, have to practice pain management breathing, and use a focal point like I'm having a baby or something.

Is there anything I can do to strengthen other parts of my arm or change my technique to take the stress off of my elbow? I am getting ready to invert next week. My class has little floor work, as it is a pole fit type of class. I am loving the results, but not the pain! I don't want to quit!

Jessi_Brooks

Ive had some slight elbow pain, but nothing like that. Maybe you are relaxing your arms too much. You could try keeping your arms slightly bent during all your moves. Or try different grip variations. You can do elbow grip for spins and such too, if its spins that youve been working on so far that has gotten your elbows to hurt so much.

Mouse_Potato

Nothing like that here, but neither arm likes to be used as a kickstand as we do in so many moves. I get shooting pains up my forearm, especially on the right side. Is your grip correct? It seems most of our spins engage the traps and lats more than anything. The elbow is just a hinge.

kelly_e_montana

I'm not suffering it so much from spins but from my strength building activities like deadlifts (pull ups on the pole) and climb holds, I believe. Mine is more of a pole fitness focus with instructors and they do check my grip. This is where I am getting most of my upper body strength gains but also when I feel the most elbow pain. I should clarify that I have only been doing pole fitness for about 2 months so I am still building strength in my joints, wrists, and arms. I also lift and use my elbow bartending full time so I think it's an overuse injury that is being amplified by pole work. (I am also 40 so nothing works as well as it did in my 20s).

kelly_e_montana

Interestingly enough, I just read one article that by a physical therapist that indicates that the wrist needs to be stabilized and strengthened to find improvement in elbow tendonitis because of the way the muscles in the arm work. Hmmm.

Mouse_Potato

Almost 40 here as well. 39 in ten days. We don't bounce back as quickly as the 20 somethings.

Maybe your arms just need time to develop the supporting muscles. I frequently find myself wrapping my wrist around the pole and getting those nasty marks just below the palm. That's my reminder to check my form and sometimes indicates that I am getting fatigued. The only issue I ever had with pole ups was when my biceps were too weak to lift me. I pulled both of them the first time I tried it and hurt for days!

kelly_e_montana

Thanks so much to everyone on their feedback.

sharmazzu

Yes! I have been working out on pole for 2 years, in june may 2015 my elbow began hurting all the time. (left elbow, when you bend it, the tiny protruding bone on the top). My orthopedic diagnosed it as " tendonosis or degenerative tendon", NOT tendonitis (as he explained). Tendonosis is when the tendon degenerates over a long period of time due to overuse. It is not the muscle, it is the tiny tendon in the elbow. You can read about by googling "tendonitis vs tendonosis" My doc said stop the activity that caused it for 3-6 months. I was bummed. According to what Ive read it takes 100 days at the least for collagen to regenerate. Im sorry, if we continue pole, the tendon cannot regenerate. Ive been off it 3 months now and have been doing the eccentric excercises Ive read about. Im almost pain free, I'll give it another month though because I do not want to go back where I started and never heal!! Let it heal and Good Luck!

Songtothesiren

Me! I've just noticed elbow pain - but I think that's because I've just started back to pole after a break of nearly two years and I kind of really went for it - which as we all know was a case of enthusiasum over common sense.