RRC Archives

So....If I had tendinitis in both elbows (inside the elbow--golfer's elbow) at the end of Spring season and could not sleep due to the pain.....Stopped climbing COMPLETELY (also no weights, pull-ups, NOTHING) for 2.5 months....been sleeping in wrist braces every night for 11 weeks.....just tried to climb this week and had some pain, but not terrible....Should I gently try to train up for Fall or should I cut my losses and not climb till next Spring????

Bummer. Climb easy if you can... even, god forbid, less steep routes. If the pain is severe, stop. To be honest, light easy use always helps me heal faster than zero use, when it comes to chronic overuse injuries... but you have to cut the intensity WAY down. Armaid is supposed to be helpful for upper extremity tendinitis (and they give a portion of their profits to RRGCC!)

Andrew will probably tell you to sleep with your arms straight. Honestly, I would consider a cortisone injection into the affected joints if you want results.

If it makes you feel any better I tweaked a flexor tendon in my finger about 3 weeks ago trying to climb on hard nasty crimps in burly slimy August conditions. Misery loves company?

i ain't nobody but i don't understand how not doing anything is going to solve the problem of you being prepared to climb, esp. after 2.5 months rest. i'd think you need to find the right mix of stretching, flexibility (and not just along the primary axis), strengthening exercises (opposing muscles and all that), and warming up. good luck though.

The longer you take off, the worse it will be when you return and the more likely you will injure something else also. You need to rehabilitate the injury, not rest completely. Work the pronators and supinators, stretch, massage the area, and by all means, do lots of moderate climbing. Do heavy eccentric wrist curls. They have been my cure all for elbow tendonitis. Deep massage in the area of pain will help break up the scar tissue. Whatever you do, don't take off, you have basically wasted 2.5 months already, no need to waste more.

So... You all are saying if you have severe pain and cannot even grip a glass or a doorknob, I should have kept climbing on it? I couldn't pull at all, even on a 5.8. Everyone said to rest it until the pain was gone. I am back to doing the reverse wrist curls, and the hammer exercises. Been doing push ups the whole time, just not pulling or curls. Been massaging and icing the whole time.

So, now that I am climbing again, just climb no matter if it hurts more or not? This is my first elbow problem in 19 yrs of climbing, I don't want it to be chronic, especially because I only climb on steep routes.

Some help from someone who has had this and gotten back to climbing steep routes 11's and 12's without pain would be awesome!

Should Fall season just be for rehab, or should I train to climb hard by Oct? Not sure the best approach?

i'm curious-if you just do a dead hang from a monkey bar what's the outcome? and then, from that dead hang, can you 'roll' your elbow 'around''? when the gripping an object hurt, was it in the fingers or elbow? can you interlace your fingers behind your back and straighten your elbows? roll the elbows from that point?

Do heavy eccentric wrist curls with your arm supported over something. The weight needs to be heavy enough that you can't curl it with one hand. Use both hands on the concentric phase and just the one hand on the eccentric phase. deep self massage the affected area also. Clearly resting didn't help, correct? Try something different.

Three years ago I had hammer toes so bad I almost couldnt walk and my elbows were so sore from tennis elbow in both arms, that I couldnt hold a cup of coffee. I went to PT and the threapists helped me a lot. Life took over and filled in the climbing vacum and I am just now hoping to climb again this fall. I'll probably have to start all over but - it was fun and its all about the journey anyway. PT is worth the money.

Good questions. When I hurt my elbows in May, they hurt when climbing or gripping. They also hurt sleeping, driving, talking on my cell phone and hurt to the touch...all at the bone on the inside of my elbows. I climbed 2 more weekends 3 days in a row each at bob marley, drive by, torrent, coyote cliff, and a couple other cliffs--steeper ones. I climbed until they hurt so bad I could barely bend or grip at all. Then, topped it off w/ bare metal teen and receiver...Both elbows throbbed with pain even when not being used at all...24/7 for about 6 weeks after that.

Yes I iced, took ibuprophen, massaged, heated, did hammer exercises. Stopped the hammer after 2 weeks, seemed to make it worse.

After resting for 11 weeks and sleeping in wrist splints so I wasn't pulling on those tendons in my sleep, they got where they barely hurt and I could grip, ride my mountain bike, but still hurt if I rubbed or massaged the insides of my elbows where the tendons attach from the underside of my forearm.

Right now, I can do a dead hang without pain. I can climb 5.8's and 5.9's without too much pain, even ones that are a little steep. Steep 5.10's hurt. After first two days of climbing, my pain has increased each time, but it isn't terrible yet. (3 or 4 out of 10). Tonight, did hammer exercises and reverse wrist curls. I can lace my fingers behind my back ok. Not especially painful.

LD...maybe we will both be rehabbing at the cliff this Fall!