I'm sure there's something in here about the topic, but haven't found it yet so here goes. I can't get rid of my tendonitis from shooting. I've tried not shooting for a couple weeks, but it comes back after the first long session. Trying to focus on more back and less arms, the tennis wrap helps but it's still pretty brutal and makes it hard for me to do normal chores during the day. The good thing is that the pain goes away once i start shooting some, but then it's alot worse the next morning. Trying to avoid cortisone shots, any advice would be helpful, thanks!
I went through this and figured it was just a factor of getting older so just put off getting it looked at. The longer you wait the more damage you do & the tougher/longer it is to treat. Long story short, I put myself through years of needless pain and darn near ended my archery & bowhunting career, all of my own doing.
Don't screw around, get it properly diagnosed ASAP. Unless the problem is accurately diagnosed you can't fix it and any self treatment based on a guess can cause more damage than it repairs.
If it's inflammation and not a damaged tendon requiring surgical repair a combination of a few months of physical therapy & maybe some cortisone will bring it around like new. Took me 3 months of therapy & a little cortisone and I've never had a problem since.
Needless to say, I was out of the bow shooting racket for those 3 months, but by that time I couldn't draw & release a bow anyway.
Cortisone gets a bad rap but trust me, if the choice is a cortisone shot or never shooting bow or bowhunting again, you'll take the shot...
i have the same thing and being active helps me. if i dont go to the gym or do pushups for a day or 2 it stiffens up and is painful. the more i push the better it feels. plus i make sure i practice both right handed and left handed incase of an emergency. shooting the opposite way may seem impossible but its not;)
You may need to lay off shooting for a few months actually. I had it and went a whole spring without shooting. It cleared up and hasn't returned. Only go to cortisone as a last resort....that stuff will do as much damage, over time, as it will help.
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=082869
It takes some time,I went on the net and found some Physical Therapy exercises and did them,used ice and rest.I also used an elbow brace when shooting and didn't shoot as much may 2 days a week.And after a couple of months it went away but everyone is different but this work for me.
You can do the gym but be careful not to over do it you can acquire fluid retention in the joint.Some of the aged crowd I hang with say that aleve is the best for older worked joints.If you do get swelling Ice for 20 min.and then heat for 20 min.Other than that chase around a young woman that will make you forget about the pain...LOL
QuoteOriginally posted by George D. Stout:
You may need to lay off shooting for a few months actually. I had it and went a whole spring without shooting. It cleared up and hasn't returned. Only go to cortisone as a last resort....that stuff will do as much damage, over time, as it will help.
This is good advice here. And be sure to ice your elbow down every once in a while to keep the inflammation down.
Dont feel alone crazy horse im in the same boat i have not shot in 3 weeks and is killin me.i wander if they are different ways to cause it. because when i first did this i could still shoot fine but really hurt to pick up coffee mug.im curious to see after laying off if shooting will cause pain. i got mine from trying to untwist a union on my pole saw.
crazyhorse, I know it may not seem like ice does any good but give it a honest try. You need to ice the elbow 2-3 times a day for 15-20 minutes at a time for 3 weeks. Don not skip a day and do your best to get it on at least twice a day. Take all the Aleve you can for those some three weeks and I would bet your tendonitis is cured ! If not it will be 100 % better. I had bicep tendonitis two years ago and thought I would die with shoulder pain. The ice and Aleve fixed me in three weeks. Them Major League pitchers get iced as soon as they come off the field. Post back in three weeks with the good news.
nocams
Here is what fixed me. I dealt with this for years. Every kind of shot and meds available. Finally fixed with with exercises. The exercise is short fast and easy. Put the palm of your hand (same hand as bad elbow) flat against any surface, a wall, floor, the side of your face, roof of care while driving etc. Push the hand back over the wrist as far as you can. You will be strching the forearm muscle. The Dr says the forarm muscle has something do it with the tendons of the elbow. Do this for a few seconds as often as you can.
I tried to did it at every opportunity, at least once per hour. After about 2 weeks, the pain in the elbow began to fade, it was all gone in about 3 weeks. That was 7 yrs ago. It starts to return from time to time, and I begin doing the stretching exercises again. I know of others who have done the same thing with the same good results. Try it, it works!
This one is easy start shooting a lightger bow, real light.
Why do you say it's "tendonitis"? Were you already diagnosed by an M.D.? If you wish to talk, give me a shout.
David
Had this a few years back in both elbows at the same time. It wasn't just the bow that was causing my problem. Much of it was caused by computer use. Some good advice in the posts above, but the best is to see a professional first to sort out what you really have. It took me nearly a year and a half of anti-inflammatory meds, therapy, exercises and yes, cortisone shots. I ended up with about 3 shots in both elbows over that time all closely monitored by the doctor. After much patience and effort I've been doing well since then.
You've got some good advice here, but truthfully we're missing details that would help in properly treating a specific problem. Treating tendonitis (and other diagnoses) in elbows, shoulders, wrists, and hands is how I make a living. I'll send you a pm...
I had it so bad that I could not pick up a coffee mug. Got a cortizone shot and that fixed it right up.
When it comes back it will be worse, cortizone is like turning the lights of with an ugly chick,she will always remember your face and see you everywhere. :scared: :coffee:
Been there 3 times. I've had surgery on my right elbow once and my left twice. They both feel great now but I would try therapy first. Talk to BRONZE, he does this for a living.
Go see a doc. I had the same problem and kept hoping it would just go away. Not much chance of that. If it is truly tendonitis the doc will likely send you to therapy first and use cortisone as a last option. Trust the doc. Cortisone is really bad in the joints but that isn't where you would get it and could help if your doc decides to use it. I needed a couple shots in one elbow and none in the other. I still have to do the exercises but everything is working fine.
Probably the most important thing is to see an Ortho who works on elbows every day.
Good luck
Exercise sounds counter intuitive when your elbow is in pain, but that's what has worked for me.
having had MANY forms of joint paint and joint ailments. from tendinitis to frozen shoulder syndrome to lymes disease, here's my two cents worth that i hope will help ....
FIRST, rule out that you don't have a tick borne disease such as lyme's. as i've written about perhaps a dozen times, i had classic 'tennis elbow', went to 3 docs and 2 were orthopedic surgeons, it was NOT tendinitis, it was lymes disease and it took me 9 months of misery, cortisone and death delivering anti-inflams to find that out in a 1/2 hour visit to a naturopath doc. i was put in remission and back to pulling string within 2 weeks, thanx to prescribed herbal supplements only. also, i never had any of the classic tick bit signs of lymes. you may never ever know that you were tick or bug bit, but yer joints will tell you otherwise within a week to several months. DO NOT rely on western medicine to tell you that you don't have lymes! all those blood tests and such are gambles and totally unreliable! get thee to a naturopath doc who's more than familiar with lymes and other bug bite diseases.
surgery - absolute LAST resort if all else fails over a very long period of time; don't take surgery as lightly as most surgeons advise, it's NOT good
cortisone, steroids - to be avoided like the plague if at all possible, they only mask the underlying problem and never ever will fix it
anti-inflammatory drugs - take ONLY the holistic, natural herbal stuff, stay as far away from concocted toxic drug anti-inflams as possible, they are all known causes of liver ailments at the very least, ask me how i painfully know this
physical rehab - the absolute first line of defense and the proper thing to begin asap, IF lymes is ruled out; remember that for the most part RICE is your friend; rest, ice, compression, elevation
Mine was calcific tendonitis(bone spur) on my tendon and it didn't respond to therapy at all. Intensly painful and I couldn't shoot for 3 months. It resolved itself in May when I had a tractor accident and tore the tendon. The doc took care of the bone spur at the same time as the repair and I'm as stong as ever. I don't think the bone spur would have gone away on it own so see an orthpediac doctor soon.
I am not sure what kind of bow you shoot, but my elbow always acts up more when I shoot my heavy HH's, as they have quite a bit of thump. Might try lesser weight, and bows with less hand shock. Heavy arrows also help to reduce the hand shock.
Got an elbow problem myself at the moment. My daughter keeps asking me about it and if I have seen the doctor yet. Will have to go just to keep her happy, :) Which elbow do most of you get the pain in, mine is my left/bow arm, though it flared up while I have been off shooting for a couple of weeks. A Physio friend of mine said to ice but to make sure that I don't ice more than 20 minutes as the nerves run close to the skin and you can damage them with too much icing. I get burning pain while my arm is resting, which she said is probably nerve related. May see the doc today.
Rob any suggestions on the natural anti-inflamatories and supplements.
QuoteOriginally posted by razorback:
Rob any suggestions on the natural anti-inflamatories and supplements.
i use zyflamend, found in any health food/herbal store. also consider traumeel anti-inflammatory gel (not the cream), rubbed into your elbow - that has at times worked magic for me.
I laid off shooting for couple months, dropped down a couple pounds in draw weight and when I resumed shooting....limited myself to quality vs. quantity sessions.
So far, so good.
As you get older most folks are going to have "pain"; however, most don't think about it until they are forced to. Playing aggressive sports when young, being Special Warfare in the military... past surgeries... well, you just accept pain. Then, hopefully, the smart light turns on from within and you start to think (most folks call it "maturity"). Such is the case with your elbow pain. Pain is a guiding light.
Most of what Rob stated above I can go along with; however, I would suggest MICE instead of RICE. It will allow for faster healing time.
"M" for slow range of movement... as much as you can up to the point of discomfort, but NOT into it, or thru it. Your goal will be to increase range of motion SLOWLY... don't look for leaps and bounds. If there is swelling, the slow easy movements actually pump the congested material out of the area. Of course, rest is necessary, but... just laying there? My thoughts? Move it or lose it! Work smarter, not harder... get results that can last.
Also, for some folks... Heat works better than ice. Saying that, try what works for you, and your body. If it's Ice, ice cubes work the best, not the cold packs. (Vasodilatation will occur automatically at approx. the 15-20 minute mark.)
Just for reference: At one point, Tennis elbow and Golfer's Elbow were both viewed (along with many other injuries) as "Tendonitis"; however, studies have proven most of these concerns are actually overuse injuries (tendonosis)... not inflammation (tendonitis).
So, many folks are still be diagnosed with "tendonitis" yet a major portion don't have "...itis". I can't remember the percentages, but I think it's less than 10% of the diagnosed repetitive stress injuries are actually "tendonitis". So, why do doctors still use the word "tendonitis"? I would think it's just easier for the patient to accept the tendonitis word (that way the doctor doesn't have to explain the difference).
Still, I would suggest you get a referral to an Orthopedic / Sport Physician to rule out "other things" first. Then find a PT (with manual focus) or knowledgeable – full time - Massage Therapist (one with an orthopedic focus...not spa back rubbing treatments).
Some folks go to an ND because they've tried doctors / medicine with no results, and it just so happens that the ND's solution worked. To me, it doesn't matter... doctor, naturopath, or the dog Vet... if it solution worked... it worked! After all, go to Wal-Mart and you'll see rows and rows of topical angelicas (Ben-Gay, Icy Hot, Tiger Balm, ect.). What works for one will or may not work for someone else.
I've been providing orthopedic services for the past 16 years... this is just my two cents.
Hi! My way to cure mine: Ibuprofeine to reduce the inflammation and light exercise for the arm - good warm up before shooting and if the pain is worrying me, not so many shots at a time 5 - 12 ...and that dont matter too much, because of one master shooter adviced to do rather just few focused shots than lots of sloppy ones...I have bows from 30 to 65 # and I choose the one, which comes back with ease...
Razorback I sent you a PM