Dealing with severe elbow pain

[Disc_chainy]

Maybe check the Leftorium for some discs made for southpaws? Don't forget, Lord love a lefty!

 

[Matt B.]

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

You have tendonitis. Physical therapy, ice, rest, the brace. That's it. You should go to the doctor and get checked out. I hurt my elbow at a work party, had both golf and tennis elbow. A great phsical therapist gave me stretches and did some manipulations on it. That, combined with ice, the brace, not further injuring it, and resting it for a couople months healed it up.

If you don't address it, it just stays the same, gets worse, or takes forever.

 

[jakebake91]

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...

Aren't you going to be throwing lefty this season?? Maybe you guys could form a support group lol

 

[BuzzzChief]

I'm afraid I'm in the same boat. Started to get some light elbow pain back in September/October. It hung around through November and I was hoping the winter would help it heal. I was only playing every couple weeks during the holidays, and it seemed to get worse each time. So I didn't throw for something like 7 weeks in Jan/Feb. It was feeling good.

Last week I played again for the first time since early Jan. It felt OK during the round, but 1-2 days later it was really bad and now my back is jacked up too. Getting older sucks!

 

[air show]

I know about not wanting to go to the doctor... even with health insurance it can cost a fortune. I would probably lay off three or four weeks and do Ibuprofen and hope for improvement. If no improvement find a sports med doc with a good reputation... not all doctors are created equal.

P.S. as a rule of thumb I go see a doctor ASAP if I miss work or lose sleep.

 

[ChiCubs]

I got crushed with a case of right elbow tendonitis day after this past Thanksgiving. I shut down the game and about one to two weeks later I was going crazy thinking about how long I would be out. Month? Two? Well, it's the start of March and I am still in pain. It is healing but s l o w l y. After that 2nd week I decided to learn how to play lefty. I still flicked and tossed putts with my right arm but all tee shots and long approaches were thrown with my left. I did this for 3 months and I have to say I am pretty psyched. I can average about 250-290 (righty drives I average about 330-360) off the tee and my approach game lefty has tightened up. The other nice thing is that my flick approach game with the right arm has gotten ridiculously solid. You give me my Star Firebird 167g to flick from 100 to 150 feet to the basket and all you'll see is butter. Anyway, take your time with the elbow...it will heal but it takes time. A lot of time. Cross Massage the area/tendons/muscles as often as you can and dig deep. It is going to hurt. Also, ice it and do NOT throw for several weeks. It will get better but time is the secret. Good luck. Now, get out and throw with your other arm!:thmbup:

 

[BennettUA]

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...

Luckily, no, I'e never locked up or felt an inclination towards it.

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

What's funny(re, stupid?) is that I haven't yet done this. I mean, I've iced it some, but not religiously. That's going to start today.

Maybe check the Leftorium for some discs made for southpaws? Don't forget, Lord love a lefty!

Still don't understand why this isn't a true website yet. Seriously. There's 10% of the population willing to throw all their monies at such a venture.

I got crushed with a case of right elbow tendonitis day after this past Thanksgiving. I shut down the game and about one to two weeks later I was going crazy thinking about how long I would be out. Month? Two? Well, it's the start of March and I am still in pain. It is healing but s l o w l y. After that 2nd week I decided to learn how to play lefty. I still flicked and tossed putts with my right arm but all tee shots and long approaches were thrown with my left. I did this for 3 months and I have to say I am pretty psyched. I can average about 250-290 (righty drives I average about 330-360) off the tee and my approach game lefty has tightened up. The other nice thing is that my flick approach game with the right arm has gotten ridiculously solid. You give me my Star Firebird 167g to flick from 100 to 150 feet to the basket and all you'll see is butter. Anyway, take your time with the elbow...it will heal but it takes time. A lot of time. Cross Massage the area/tendons/muscles as often as you can and dig deep. It is going to hurt. Also, ice it and do NOT throw for several weeks. It will get better but time is the secret. Good luck. Now, get out and throw with your other arm!:thmbup:

I admire your ability. I am COMPLETELY left-hand dominant, so much so that the simplest tasks with my right arm/hand feel incredibly awkward and often unsafe. My max distance righty is 60 feet, and it hurts I'm not against trying to practice and make my righty form smooth, efficient, and useful, but it will take a LOT more practice than I have time for. Still, it would be an incredible tool to have!

 

[Streets]

Bennett,

Sorry to hear about the elbow pain buddy! Have you tried wearing some kind of compression sleeve while playing?

I'll echo everyone saying rest/Ibuprofen/ice for a few weeks...but maybe start wearing some kind of sleeve during rounds.

 

[BennettUA]

Bennett,

Sorry to hear about the elbow pain buddy! Have you tried wearing some kind of compression sleeve while playing?

I'll echo everyone saying rest/Ibuprofen/ice for a few weeks...but maybe start wearing some kind of sleeve during rounds.

I have not, but I'll pick one up today! I've benefited from compression on my feet, legs, and knees, so I imagine this will help some as well, thanks Streets :hfive:

 

[ChiCubs]

Yo! I actually forgot to mention the compression sleeve. I now wear a compression elbow sleeve along with a tennis elbow brace/strap. It definitely helps when I throw righty as I have started to do about 30/40% of the time I play now when not throwing lefty.