lateral epicondylitis

Quit whining. Drink bourbon. Climb more.
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tbwilsonky
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Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:38 pm

lateral epicondylitis

Post by tbwilsonky »

looking at the structures involved, i have no idea how this happened. i'm assuming it was trauma rather than RMI, but either way it i'm currently sorting through recovery strategies.

currently, i'm icing, taping (glide method), and limiting training to core exercises and cardio.

any suggestions would be helpful. thanks.

t
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Shamis
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by Shamis »

Blue Flexbar and bicep stretching worked for me. And of course, long slow warmups on things 2-3 full grades below what you are setting out to do.
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tbwilsonky
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by tbwilsonky »

it's weird in that it hasn't affected climbing and doesn't really hurt when I'm out. the only pain I get is when doing mundane stuff around the house. especially lifting objects with my thumb pointing up.

does that sound familiar?
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Rotarypwr345704
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by Rotarypwr345704 »

Sounds like you need to quit putting your thumb up your ass...
I fell for the everyone-shut-up-and-ill-donate-money scheme. -Ray Ellington, guidebook gawd

My name is Sam Douglass and I love to pose for photo shoots holding on to a jug with only one hand (and no feet!) with my best friend Ian.
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tbwilsonky
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by tbwilsonky »

Rotarypwr345704 wrote:Sounds like you need to quit putting your thumb up your ass...
obvious layup but i assumed nobody would actually bite.

bell curve in action.
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lena_chita
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by lena_chita »

tbwilsonky wrote:looking at the structures involved, i have no idea how this happened. i'm assuming it was trauma rather than RMI, but either way it i'm currently sorting through recovery strategies.

currently, i'm icing, taping (glide method), and limiting training to core exercises and cardio.

any suggestions would be helpful. thanks.

t
Dealing with it right now myself. In my case, this is secondary to a climbing injury. The elbow wasn't injured, but I aggravated it when I was guarding against the pain in the supinator muscle and pinched radial nerve. I was told by PT that the lateral epicondylitis problem is not from climbing, but from computer use. The climbing commonly using MEDIAL epicondytis, not lateral.

Seems to be true, because it doesn't hurt when I am climbing, but it does sometimes hurt when I am pulling rope, It does hurt when I am using laptop for extended periods of time, and also with various random things, such as lifting a heavy pan by the handle (lever effect, i think)

The elbow seems to be doing much better since I have switched to ergonomic chair with adjustable armrests, and started using a normal ) not-laptop) keyboard with a gel wrist pad in front of it.
SikMonkey
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by SikMonkey »

Start sucking down the Vitamin-I and lay off of it (or keep climbing/training and just try to manage it during the season by working antagonistic muscle groups). That was the only thing I could find hat would even come close to working. I hear deep tissue massage works tho.

M
...quitting drinking is kinda like washing your hands after you take a crap...why start now?
SikMonkey
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by SikMonkey »

But wait, if you have "lateral" ec, wouldn't climbing help that? I always fought medial ec.
...quitting drinking is kinda like washing your hands after you take a crap...why start now?
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tbwilsonky
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by tbwilsonky »

computer use. video gaming. baby holding. these are pretty much the breeding ground for my particular case of lateral epicondylitis. climbing doesn't hurt but the tendon is DEFINITELY not happy afterwards.

eccentric wrist curls and less keyboard time seem to be the way out.
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vertical1
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Re: lateral epicondylitis

Post by vertical1 »

First, taping will do nothing for it. Do self-miofascial release massage to the area often throughout the day to help stimulate blood flow. Do HEAVY eccentric wrist curls a few times per week. It needs to be so heavy that you can't do the concentric phase. Throw in some pronator/supinators just for good measure, and do them slow. Also, try very slow pullups and lowering. One more thing, avoid the vitamin-I. Your body doesn't have an ibuprofen deficiency, it has an injury. Masking the inflamation will not help and there are studies that taking it beyond the initial day of the injury can cause tendons to weaken by up to 10-12%. Not what you want to do as a climber.
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