Medial Epicondylitis

[DRep]

Have any of you dealt with this annoyance? Recovery times?

Edited June 12, 2013 by DRep

[JayB]

Have any of you dealt with this annoyance? Recovery times?

 

Had a bout of it about 10 years ago that lasted for a couple of years.

 

Unfortunately - the only thing that worked for me and cleared it up permanently was rest.

 

After failing to find any kind of a short-term fix I basically spent a month taking Aleve, followed by at least six months of substituting other outdoor activities for climbing, then started building up the opposing muscles, and then about 9 months out started slab climbing and worked back into the forearm intensive stuff from there.

 

Not sure how well what I did jives with the current scientific consensus but it seemed to work. It's just an anecdote with an N of 1, but I've heard enough other anecdotes from folks with ligament/tendon related issues from overuse to make me think that you basically have to stop doing whatever is causing the aggravation for a long time - like months - to get rid of the problem for good.

 

That can seem like an eternity when you're really plugged into climbing and performing at a high level, and the prospect of losing a couple of years worth of incremental gains can be a bummer - but I was surprised at how fast I was able to recover the strength/endurance I'd lost.

 

Good luck - hope you recover fast whatever path you chose.

 

 

[telemarker]

I had this pretty intensely about a year 1/2 ago after using the Captains of Crush hand grippersat work during stressful phone conversations, and climbing plastic indoors also aggravated it. After ceasing those two activities and only climbing outdoors did it eventually go away.

[el jefe]

try this: http://www.drjuliansaunders.com/resources/feature_articles/dodgy_elbows/

[Bob Loomis]

Hi DRep,

 

Starting in the mid-1990s I got it. In total I think I have had five distinct episodes on the right and one on the left. I think I have done everything possible--PT with multiple professionals, once a cortisone injection, stretching, the exercises advocated by Dr. Julian Sanders (the prior link), loads of passive rest, loads of active rest, ultrasound, supplements, massage, chiropractor, magnets, etc. Basically if it exists as a possible remedy, I have tried it. To some extent a certain low level of pain is now normal in my life. What I have found is if you do everything right--nutrition, good climbing biomechanics, stretching, resistance work in the right proportions, strategic rest, etc., you will recover, but due to the nature of climbing and the stresses it puts on your body, it will tend to want to come back from time to time. I have found that so long as the pain is kept to basically "background nuisance" I can keep climbing, but the moment it gets to be more than that I have to really dial back my activity level. Really pay attention to all the little things--good sleep at night, hydration, fish oil supplements, how you sleep at night (do not sleep on the arm whose elbow is hurting, esp. if you sleep with a bent arm--all relates to a relaxed arm with good blood flow for 8 hours a day), etc. These little things, and there are dozens of little things that go into the mix, all add up to making a big difference. Look for what corrolates in your day--ex., keyboard use and elbow pain, how you grip your car steering wheel and pain/soreness. Pay attention and eliminate or modify the things that hinder healing and recovery. In the end rest really is nature's best cure for most things that ail you--but as committed climbers we tend not to want to hear that.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob Loomis, Spokane, WA.