Tennis elbow / Bursitis

[K1]

Had an MRI done on the right arm and was told I have Bursitis in the shoulder and in the arm (had been having the forearm pain since late last year and the bursitis for the last couple yrs)...Over the past couple yrs I've had 3 cortisone shots in the shoulder, but going to only a walk in you never get a diagnosis, they just shoot you up with something or give you some pills and send you on your way...Nothing ever really helped

So I finally went to my wife's doctor and this is what it's been...The tennis elbow is my major problem because that's the pain that brought me to the doctors (I can barely hit arms because of this).....

Who has/had this and what can I do to ease up the pain...This arm's beat?! Appreciate all advise!!

 

[Lou]

I was also diagnosed with bursitis in my elbow (tennis elbow). This probably because of newbie inexperience doing skull crushers with too much weight and without warming up. Anyways, i had to back up in the intensity of my triceps workouts. Also, i have to train with elbow bands. I cant do any behind the neck extensions or skullcrushers, even without weight. When I start to train harder and heavier, it starts hurting even in chest/shoulder movements. I would recommend getting a topical anti-inflamatory, elbow bands, and WARMING UP. After hitting the gym, grab some ice. Hope it helps some way.

 

[jrs]

had it for a couple years. crippling. even sitting down at home the tendons would get so tight it felt like they would snap off. could only describe the feeling as "brittle"

active release therapy was my last resort before talking to an orthopedist. 80% better the first day, and 90% in several days. try it, trust me. you will see at least partial improvement the first day

 

[Gunsmith]

This is the best topical I have found
Products - Absorbine

works great and doesn't feel like its gonna burn the skin of , very cool and releaving , combined with NSAID's will work wonders if you lay off of it , the biggest factor in tendonites relief is rest. Your gonna have to lay off of it for a couple weeks.

for the shoulder the only thing that fixed mine was surgery , I had trouble with one the Dr said it was from heavu benching with poor form so he looked at the other one and showed me that it was in the same shape , he recomended that we scope them both at the same time , I though he was fucking crazy !! if I knew then what I know now I would have done it , he told me that it would give me trouble sooner or later and about a year later it did. It was called a "distal clavical AC impingment" when the clavical get basicaly a build up from arthritis and it puts pressure on the bursa causing it to inflame and the constant rubbing never lets it heal , a cortisone shot helped for a little while but not more that 6-8 weeks.

I had my right shoulder scoped , did proper rehab and supplemnets and I only missed about 4 weeks from the gym but started back VERY light had my left one done last July , I was back in the gym doing legs and cardio 3 days later. I had my sling off and useing the arm 5-6 hrs out of surgery

find a good sports med orthopedic surgen and have him check it out , generaly take an MRI and an MI with contrast

but for god's sake , ask around and see who he has cut on , some guys are scalple happy butchers , I have three 1" scars on my right shoulder and 2 on my left and I was back 100% maybe 5 months after , but I have since stopped doing any barbell movements for chest or shoulders

 

[Gunsmith]

OH , you can get absorbine at the feed store that carries horse supplys or order it on line from these folks
Absorbine Veterinary Liniment [^]

gotta ove a web site called "barn yard health"

 

[brineal]

i thought tennis elbow was epicondylitis (tendonitis) whereas bursitis would be an inflammation of the bursa sacs in the elbow?

you should at the very least follow the RICE protocol, rest, ice, compression and elevation, especially the rest part

 

[j4ever]

I have dealt with tennis and golphers elbow for approx 4 years and it has been very frustrating. I just started ART therapy and after 3 sessions my elbows feel better than they have in a long time but I still have a ways to go. Wish I would have started long time ago.

 

[hawkmoon]

I have bursitis and tennis elbow on the same arm. My left elbow is constantly swollen and I can't lock out that arm anymore.
I went to local Physio and he is having me do rotational strength training for the TE. He did some ultrasound on the elbow bursitis but I still need to get a cortisone shot Tuesday morning.

 

[phatrr]

Another vote for ART

ART done by a good practitioner will cure the problem, not just alleviate the symptoms, IME. My body is a train wreck, I go to ART / Chiro every week, my guy keeps me going.

Symptomatic relief: try some DMSO. It's cheap, and I gotta tell ya, I just tried it on my ankle after a severe twist, and it really helped to keep swelling/inflammation at bay.

Lastly, don't know if this is applicable, but might be worth considering:

**broken link removed**

Good luck. Let us know what you do and how it goes.

 

[claymore]

A.R.T does work rather well

 

[Tyrone]

JEEZ, sorry to hear brother!

 

[thebrick]

Damn brother. These problems are a nagging pain in the ass that take time to settle down. I wish we had more discussion here about preventing these types of problems from popping up or dealing with them because they can torpedo training very quickly. We put unreal pressure on our joints with the constant heavy training.

I was having serious left elbow pains early this past spring. I had intense pain with pushing motions or even to have weight pulling on it. I went to my sports/ ortho doc. I don't know that it was technically tennis elbow, but he told me it was from over-use and to back off a while. He gave me a script for the NSAID Cataflam/ 50 mg which works great, much better than any over-the-counter NSAID. I use the generic and its inexpensive. The good news is the elbow is much better now, but it did take a while.

They did take an x-ray to make sure there are no bone spurs?

 

[K1]

Thanks for the feeback everyone!!

Yeah, she thinks that I will need surgery on the shoulder because I let it go for much too long...I told her that the shoulder wasn't really my concern at the moment that the forearm was, since that is what brought me to the doctor's!!

She wants to try ultrasound...she said to try to break up some of the scar tissue that has formed around the tendons of the arm (or something like that)?!

For the most part over the last 2 1/2yrs workouts have been non-existent, to say the least...Just recently started working out again full time maybe 3-4wks ago...The pain from the forearm to the hand is at points unbearable!! Arms are down from almost 19 to 16 1/2

Gotta figure out something to at least ease the pain til the holiday season is over, then if surgery is really needed at that point, then I guess I'll have no choice?!!

I look into the ART and see if I can run with that...Thanks guys!!

 

[jrs]

Yeah, she thinks that I will need surgery on the shoulder because I let it go for much too long...I told her that the shoulder wasn't really my concern at the moment that the forearm was, since that is what brought me to the doctor's!!

She wants to try ultrasound...she said to try to break up some of the scar tissue that has formed around the tendons of the arm (or something like that)?!

For the most part over the last 2 1/2yrs workouts have been non-existent, to say the least...Just recently started working out again full time maybe 3-4wks ago...The pain from the forearm to the hand is at points unbearable!! Arms are down from almost 19 to 16 1/2

Gotta figure out something to at least ease the pain til the holiday season is over, then if surgery is really needed at that point, then I guess I'll have no choice?!!

I look into the ART and see if I can run with that...Thanks guys!!

jesus q christ

of course a surgeon is going to tell you that you need to be cut up

bite the 50 bucks an ART appointment would cost you today and see the immediate difference. or risk serious and permanent complications and just dive into surgery, i guess ultimately it is your choice

 

[K1]

JEEZ, sorry to hear brother!

As you've seen brother, this has been the extent of my luck for the past few yrs

If I wasn't having some sort of problem, I'd be shocked

 

[K1]

jesus q christ

of course a surgeon is going to tell you that you need to be cut up

bite the 50 bucks an ART appointment would cost you today and see the immediate difference. or risk serious and permanent complications and just dive into surgery, i guess ultimately it is your choice

OH Yeah, I want to avoid surgery like the plague!!

I'm definitely going to be looking into the ART option...This is why people should never put off going to the doctors for any type of reason, blood tests, injuries, etc., By the time you decide it's time to go, you could have lost the easier options before ever needing surgery.....

 

[Thor]

I AGREE

jesus q christ

of course a surgeon is going to tell you that you need to be cut up

bite the 50 bucks an ART appointment would cost you today and see the immediate difference. or risk serious and permanent complications and just dive into surgery, i guess ultimately it is your choice

a buddy of mine had shoulder surgery a few years back and they screwed it up so bad he can't even lift now, he had another doc cut him open and look at it and told him it was basically botched surgery and he couldn't really fix it now.
Personally I would avoid surgery until you've exhausted all other avenues. Oh and by the way bro, you got a pm.

 

[phatrr]

A question for you...

Are you doing any strengthening work for your forearm extensors?

That also has helped me with pain right at the top of the elbow. If I skip it for a while, the pain starts coming back, and takes a few weeks to go away with the standard extensor work.

 

[T TOTAL]

I had these over a year ago in my left elbow. Never mind training being a pain, i couldnt even close the car door without wincing...

Went the the GP's who referred me to hospital for a scan and in the mean time i had physio...Went on for months and nothing worked. The specialist said they never realy see these problems and is unique to weight lifters/bodybuilders and such like.

This went on for months without any progress. In the end i tried the 50% Cissus and also started wearing neoprene elbow supports ( just cheap ones too ) and within a month the problem seemed to have resolved itself and has not come back.

On a side note, i had golfers elbow once and got 3 sessions of accupuncture and that worked a treat to....