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Golfer's elbow (aka medial epicondylitis)

jofjltncb6
jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
edited January 30 in Social Groups
Initially caused by too much use of a chainsaw in the aftermath of a storm that blew through (and blew over most of my trees) a couple of months ago. Crossfit probably isn't helping much with my recovery though. Anyone have any tips for it or even just a BTDT story? Besides total "rest for 2+ weeks"? I'd like to try some ways to fix it while staying active, as stupid as that may sound.

Currently, I'm icing it frequently, and am wearing an air sac forearm strap. Am checking with my chiro to see if he can provide some treatment too.

Replies

  • TX_Aggie_Dad
    TX_Aggie_Dad Posts: 173
    I had it really bad in both elbows. From beginning of symptoms until now where I'd say I'm virtually symptom free outside of intense pull-up or rope climb WODs, it has been 2+ years. I did a ton of research on the net and I found that not just one approach fixes everything. I did the following at the peak of my symptoms where both elbows basically ached all day long:

    1. Take a good amount of time off from any WODs with pulling. Pull-ups, Rope climbs, rows, etc. It took about 2 months completely off of Crossfit and another 1-2 months of no pulling exercise. Then I started back with heavily scaled activites (i.e., big band assist on pull-ups, still no rope climbs, etc). It REALLY sucked to take this much time off but it was best for me. I couldn't go into the box without getting sucked into the mindset of "oh I can just tough my way through this workout even though I know my elbows will hurt from it".
    2. 10-12 sessions with a myofacial release expert. Ask around your box as most experienced CF'ers seem to "have a guy".
    3. Nightly streching for 10-15 minutes of both forearms plus 2-3 minutes stretching sessions a couple of times each day. This can be pretty painful but it does help.
    4. Wearing a golfers/tennis elbow brace for every WOD. I'm down to wearing just one of my worst elbow now. This helped ALOT and I'll keep wearing it until I'm 100% symptom free. I think this is a must. Not all of the braces are the same so try several and find the one that works the best for you. I think I have about a half dozen different kinds of elbow braces.

    It sucks, but with the stress you place on your elbows in many of the WoDs, don't think this will just go away. You'll need to work aggressively at this or it WILL become chronic.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Regular chiro sessions, frequent icing, stretching, and rest, but still no improvement. Am going to order the armaid (armaid.com) as this seems to be a popular solution for many people.
This discussion has been closed.