Dealing with severe elbow pain

[BennettUA]

Hello all. It's been a LONGGG time since I've started a new thread, or been daily-active on here, but I still love this site, and this sport, and all you degenerates that were around when I was a regular

I'm dealing with a significant amount of pain in my throwing/left elbow now, and for the past while. Some days it's more manageable; some days I can barely drive with my left arm. I wear a brace on my forearm and rarely take it off, I TRY to limit what I do with my left hand and arm but I now realize I am lefty-dominant in EVERYTHING that I do, even unloading the laundry with my right arm feels strange to me. God forbid if you ever saw me THROW with my right arm...

Would love to hear any advice or stories or whatevers about dealing with elbow pain. Specifically for me it's on the outside joint(tennis elbow). Excercises, pain reduction/management, mental techniques, any advice or info at all.

Thanks in advance

 

[discerdoo]

Go to the carnival, track down Dr. Elmex, buy some of his magic elbow elixir, rub it on your sore elbow.


Or........


Go to a real friggin doctor or therapist and get it checked out, especially if it's significant.

 

[joegraham]

Hi just got diagnosed with tendinitis and it hurts all the time. Prescription: rest, ice three times a day, anti inflammatories daily, and a few exercises. If it isn't better in three weeks doctor will do cortisone injections. Damn. Get yours checked and get specific treatment recommendations.

 

[ru4por]

Hi just got diagnosed with tendinitis and it hurts all the time. Prescription: rest, ice three times a day, anti inflammatories daily, and a few exercises. If it isn't better in three weeks doctor will do cortisone injections. Damn. Get yours checked and get specific treatment recommendations.

While on regular doses of anti inflammatory meds, please make sure you are taking these with food.

 

[slowplastic]

Just don't throw through the pain. Seek some real advice and make sure it's back to 100% or close to it...and try to figure out what part of your throw was hurting you at that point when you can do the motions without causing it to get worse again. Also be smart about figuring it out, don't just chuck in a field or play 3 rounds in a day and find out later if you are sore. Better to throw a couple shots and look at video of it, see if you can figure it out. If not, post and get advice. Basically work smarter not longer. I have realized that it doesn't matter if I film 2 throws or 20 throws, they will likely be about the same unless I'm actively changing something. So just throw a couple times and try to figure it out rather than overdoing it with more throwing.

 

[SaROCaM]

TheraBand Flexbar exercises worked for me.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Hello all. It's been a LONGGG time since I've started a new thread, or been daily-active on here, but I still love this site, and this sport, and all you degenerates that were around when I was a regular

I'm dealing with a significant amount of pain in my throwing/left elbow now, and for the past while. Some days it's more manageable; some days I can barely drive with my left arm. I wear a brace on my forearm and rarely take it off, I TRY to limit what I do with my left hand and arm but I now realize I am lefty-dominant in EVERYTHING that I do, even unloading the laundry with my right arm feels strange to me. God forbid if you ever saw me THROW with my right arm...

Would love to hear any advice or stories or whatevers about dealing with elbow pain. Specifically for me it's on the outside joint(tennis elbow). Excercises, pain reduction/management, mental techniques, any advice or info at all.

Thanks in advance

I think your problem is... that you throw with the wrong arm.


Seriously though, I had bad elbow problems when I first started playing. I eventually figured out a different way to throw that didn't bother my elbow but... I think that is what eventually caused the shoulder injury I have now. Get it checked out. There might be something simple like bone chip/spur that can be dealt with quickly and then in a month or two you can pick it back up without changing your throw and risking further and/or new injury.

 

[sidewinder22]

I used to get some golfer's elbow from gripping the disc too hard. Flexbar definitely helped and switching to a relaxed fan grip.

 

[jeffmonty]

Hi just got diagnosed with tendinitis and it hurts all the time. Prescription: rest, ice three times a day, anti inflammatories daily, and a few exercises. If it isn't better in three weeks doctor will do cortisone injections. Damn. Get yours checked and get specific treatment recommendations.

^^^This is what I did when I got tendonitis a year and a half ago. It started with a little pain after the round, progressing to pain by the time I got to hole 7 or 8--that was when I went to the Dr. He told me to do what Joe suggested above, and not to play ANY disc golf. I was out for about 4 months (luckily it was winter) but I haven't had any elbow problems since. Also, now I wear the "Band-it" brace below my elbow during every round, and even during work parties and yard work--anything that causes extra stress on your tendons. Good luck, here's a link for that brace:
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Band-Spo...t+elbow+brace&qid=1551406189&s=gateway&sr=8-5

 

[DavidSauls]

OPTION 1 - Go straight past the doctor to an orthopedist, find out what's really wrong.

OPTION 2 - Hope it's tendonitis, go with anti-inflammatories and rest. And I mean, complete rest, no throwing 4-6 weeks. If that doesn't work, go to orthopedist.

OPTION 3 - Self-diagnosis, internet diagnosis, trial-and-error, until you eventually are resigned to go to the orthopedist.

OPTION 4 - Tough it out, man. Be a gamer. No pain, no gain. And so on, until you wind up with an orthopedist telling you that it's too late, you should have come to me sooner.

*

I had tendonitis in the bicep tendon; one day I couldn't lift a full glass of water with my throwing arm, without severe pain. After about a couple of weeks I went to the ortho, who diagnosed it, and prescribed some industrial-strength anti-inflammatories and about 6 weeks off.

*

That, or face the fact that you should be throwing right-handed to begin with, since 85% of courses are designed for RHBH throwers.

 

[mojorooks]

I used to have the same issue throwing forehand. I couldn't play more than a few holes without my arm and shoulder giving me a lot of pain. I changed my grip, and haven't had a problem since.

My grip used to be like this:https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=67618&stc=1&d=1551441994

The palm of the hand has a more upward face.
I changed my grip to this:https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=67619&stc=1&d=1551441994

The palm faces forward. I haven't had a problem since I switched.

Try this without throwing. with your palm up, reach back like you are going to throw. It feels like a chicken wing. Then try it with palm forward. This feels more natural. It took me a couple throws to dial in my accuracy but now I'm better than what I had been.

Hope this helps. And hopefully my images went thru

 

[RootsDiscGolf]

I would take a few weeks off and see if it gets better, if not go to the doctor. I have to take about 2 or 3 weeks off during the summer to let my arm heal up. When I come back I have about 30-50ft added to my throws. A healthy rested arm will do wonders for your game.

 

[zgmc]

You have inflammation going on. You have injured yourself by throwing frisbees. Take some time off! Seriously. You probably need to take at least 4 weeks. While you are taking time off to heal, you can help yourself out by eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Or at least staying away from foods(red meat for example) that can make your inflammation worse.

You can go to the doctor. All they are going to do is give you a prescription for Motrin 800 and tell you to take it easy until it heals.

 

[ru4por]

You have inflammation going on. You have injured yourself by throwing frisbees. Take some time off! Seriously. You probably need to take at least 4 weeks. While you are taking time off to heal, you can help yourself out by eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Or at least staying away from foods(red meat for example) that can make your inflammation worse.

You can go to the doctor. All they are going to do is give you a prescription for Motrin 800 and tell you to take it easy until it heals.

Well.....not exactly. Depending upon the pain, location and examination, the doc may very well prescribe some imaging to determine if there is any actual damage, outside of inflammation. While rest and Motrin will help if it is an inflammatory process, ignoring the problem and have a rupture, tear or separation could very well cause longer term problems. Determining the issue is always a better care plan, before issuing a course of treatment for the symptoms.

 

[zgmc]

Well.....not exactly. Depending upon the pain, location and examination, the doc may very well prescribe some imaging to determine if there is any actual damage, outside of inflammation. While rest and Motrin will help if it is an inflammatory process, ignoring the problem and have a rupture, tear or separation could very well cause longer term problems. Determining the issue is always a better care plan, before issuing a course of treatment for the symptoms.

An Xray most likely won't tell them anything. Then what? MRI? Hope you have good insurance OP!

 

[ru4por]

An Xray most likely won't tell them anything. Then what? MRI? Hope you have good insurance OP!

No, you are correct. I don't think the OP has broken anything, so an MRI would likely be the prescribed imaging. Insurance and the cost of health care suck, but so does permanent damage to a body part that you want to use for your passion. Risk/reward.

 

[BennettUA]

OK, so let me clear a few things up here.

First off, I am NOT going to throw with my right arm. That's for the rest of you fascist fascists, YOU'LL NEVER CHANGE MEEEE!!!

Second, I don't play very often anymore, so this pain hasn't(necessarilly) been caused by playing disc golf. I maybe get in two rounds a month now, and was less than that for a while. I WANT to play more, which is why I'm hoping to tackle this pain problem! As I said in OP, I am EXTREMELY left-arm dominant in all things, from carrying groceries to unloading laundry to... well, it's more than just chores I can assure you. Went walking the neighborhood last night and carried my drink in my right hand, which just felt so STRANGE but I'm trying to use my right arm and hand more often to let the left rest.

Also, I should note -- a few years ago, we were playing in a group and one of our guys threw a terrible shot. As we all start walking down the fairway, he decides in anger to throw another shot, full force, and his disc hit my elbow on perfect target. I couldn't finish the round, I couldn't play for more than a month, but once the swelling went down, I didn't have any lingering pain. That was maybe 5-7 years ago? BUT it did get me thinking about it recently, if it actually did some true damage or something.

I do wear an elbow brace now, almost religiously. I can't tell if it helps yet, but I'm keeping it on.

I will look into an anti-inflammatory diet -- but for kicks, any recommendations?

 

[brutalbrutus]

Also, I should note -- a few years ago, we were playing in a group and one of our guys threw a terrible shot. As we all start walking down the fairway, he decides in anger to throw another shot, full force, and his disc hit my elbow on perfect target. I couldn't finish the round, I couldn't play for more than a month, but once the swelling went down, I didn't have any lingering pain. That was maybe 5-7 years ago? BUT it did get me thinking about it recently, if it actually did some true damage or something.

I do wear an elbow brace now, almost religiously. I can't tell if it helps yet, but I'm keeping it on.

I will look into an anti-inflammatory diet -- but for kicks, any recommendations?

Do you get a "locking" in the elbow ever? Like if you are leaning on it for several minutes, then try to straighten it but it just locks into place? A disc to the arm like that could easily cause a bone chip and that is one way to determine if you have one. Bone chips are a weird thing, it can not bother you for long periods of time, then one day jostling it or just overuse can cause it to move around and get inflamed. My middle brother got one in high school from getting whacked by a fastball. Dealt with it for years before it finally became an issue once he started playing golf more regularly...

 

[Shamis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we4UoiKG3Co&t=227s

 

[jeffmonty]

-- but for kicks, any recommendations?

Best thing you can do (IMO) is ice the sh** out of it, and when you get tired of that, ice it some more.