Golfer's elbow
Discussion
I'm not sure whether this post is best in here or in the golf thread as you'll see.
I've been suffering with golfer's elbow for about 4 months now. I'm not 100% sure what has caused it - it's either lifting heavy (for me) dumbbells in the gym, or more likely, linked to golf which I picked up 7 or 8 months ago around June.
Related to the golf, I started out with 3 or 4 borrowed clubs and hacked my way down the driving range along with a few lessons to improve my swing. I had a golf club fitting and bought a set of irons which arrived in September but 2 to 3 weeks later I started to get really painful golfer's elbow in my right arm. I was going to the driving range reasonably frequently, but nothing that I'd call excessive (at very most 2-3 times a week, 100-150 balls at a time) and no more differently than before the new clubs. I have a red Therabar which I've used for over 2 months and I've been resting it quite a bit over the last 3 or 4 weeks. The pain has improved ever so slightly in this time but 1 gym session and 100 balls on the range later and I feel like I'm back at square 1.
One of the things that my club fitting highlighted was that I have quite large hands and so the clubs were fitted with slightly thicker grips. They certainly feel 'better' in my hands but I'm wondering whether these new grips could in some way be the main contributing factor in my issue. Ultimately I want the pain to go away so I could simply have complete rest for 6 months and start again, but I also don't want it to come back and I'm not sure who to turn to to help with this. It could be my swing mechanics, overuse despite what I think, hitting off the range mats too much, the club grips, the shafts or something else completely. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for a very frustrated chap?
I've been suffering with golfer's elbow for about 4 months now. I'm not 100% sure what has caused it - it's either lifting heavy (for me) dumbbells in the gym, or more likely, linked to golf which I picked up 7 or 8 months ago around June.
Related to the golf, I started out with 3 or 4 borrowed clubs and hacked my way down the driving range along with a few lessons to improve my swing. I had a golf club fitting and bought a set of irons which arrived in September but 2 to 3 weeks later I started to get really painful golfer's elbow in my right arm. I was going to the driving range reasonably frequently, but nothing that I'd call excessive (at very most 2-3 times a week, 100-150 balls at a time) and no more differently than before the new clubs. I have a red Therabar which I've used for over 2 months and I've been resting it quite a bit over the last 3 or 4 weeks. The pain has improved ever so slightly in this time but 1 gym session and 100 balls on the range later and I feel like I'm back at square 1.
One of the things that my club fitting highlighted was that I have quite large hands and so the clubs were fitted with slightly thicker grips. They certainly feel 'better' in my hands but I'm wondering whether these new grips could in some way be the main contributing factor in my issue. Ultimately I want the pain to go away so I could simply have complete rest for 6 months and start again, but I also don't want it to come back and I'm not sure who to turn to to help with this. It could be my swing mechanics, overuse despite what I think, hitting off the range mats too much, the club grips, the shafts or something else completely. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for a very frustrated chap?
I've spent the last 4+ months training with an axle bar, basically a 50mm diameter barbell. As such, I've developed a wee bit of tennis elbow. Massive obvious caveat being I'm not a doctor and I don't know if the treatments are exactly the same for both, but here's what I'm doing:
- spent £20 on a "cryoball", basically an ice massager. Stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours and treat the affected area for ten minutes every night.
- some new exercises: scapula pull ups (tennis elbow can be caused by weak lats), resistance band work (supination and pronation, tricep pushdowns, bicep curls).
- not everybody buys into it but I find CBD balm works an absolute treat for anything related to joint inflammation.
Good luck, hope you can get it sorted, it's a nightmare having those ongoing niggles.
- spent £20 on a "cryoball", basically an ice massager. Stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours and treat the affected area for ten minutes every night.
- some new exercises: scapula pull ups (tennis elbow can be caused by weak lats), resistance band work (supination and pronation, tricep pushdowns, bicep curls).
- not everybody buys into it but I find CBD balm works an absolute treat for anything related to joint inflammation.
Good luck, hope you can get it sorted, it's a nightmare having those ongoing niggles.
worldwidewebs said:
I was going to the driving range reasonably frequently, but nothing that I'd call excessive (at very most 2-3 times a week, 100-150 balls at a time) and no more differently than before the new clubs. I have a red Therabar which I've used for over 2 months and I've been resting it quite a bit over the last 3 or 4 weeks. The pain has improved ever so slightly in this time but 1 gym session and 100 balls on the range later and I feel like I'm back at square 1.
Your tendons disagree... It's an overuse injury and tendons take time.There's a tennis elbow thread recently with some useful pointers as the mechanism is similar.
I went to a golf range with my son back in Feb, nearly a year ago.
We aren't golfers and we hit about 100 balls each, one after the other.
Woke up the next morning with my right elbow in agony and even now it hurts and makes it difficult to open a jar or use a screwdriver.
I've tried warmth, ice, massage but it's still painful
I've not touched a golf club since and have learned that continually trying to drive balls down a range is not a good idea.
Hope you get it sorted, I did get Tennis Elbow years ago (I don't play tennis) and I think it was 2 years before it settled down.
Had acupuncture and cortisone injections too.
Not using the arm helps but who has time for that
We aren't golfers and we hit about 100 balls each, one after the other.
Woke up the next morning with my right elbow in agony and even now it hurts and makes it difficult to open a jar or use a screwdriver.
I've tried warmth, ice, massage but it's still painful
I've not touched a golf club since and have learned that continually trying to drive balls down a range is not a good idea.
Hope you get it sorted, I did get Tennis Elbow years ago (I don't play tennis) and I think it was 2 years before it settled down.
Had acupuncture and cortisone injections too.
Not using the arm helps but who has time for that
Bill said:
Interested to know where this has come from?
Hi Bill,I think this one is very case-specific to be fair. My problem is that I'm lifting a heavy weight from the floor to my midriff and trying to be as quick/efficient as possible. Because it's a thick bar, I'm over-relying on my forearm and grip strength to pull the weight up quickly and not engaging my lats as much as I normally would or should. The scap pull-ups should help me practise the engagement but also strengthen to correct muscles, ergo take a bit of load off the bits that are causing the issue. Admittedly this probably doesn't help the OP but I hadn't really considered that when I typed it out.
I have tennis elbow in both arms...Various ways to give relief (I wear a strap when training) but to repair I do a couple of time under tension holds that target the tendon. This not only eases the pain but done repeatedly daily will start the repair...No quick fix I'm afraid. Well, maybe BP-157 peptides but I've not looked into that in any great detail.
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