I've had chronic tendonitis in my elbows - medial epichondilitis, "golfer's elbow" - for years. It flares up badly once in a while. The last episode was terrible. I've had cortisone shots for it in the past but have reached my lifetime limit of those.
So, the sports medicine doc I saw about it most recently had me start doing grip strength exercises: wrist curls, primarily, but in every direction, and specifically with dumbbells. "Underhand", "overhand" and also laterally, in both directions. I also made up an exercise which is supposed to mimic the action of stickhandling with a hockey stick, as this is usually what flares it up the worst. I hold a pair of hex dumbbells by the hex with arms in front as if doing hammer curls and roll the dumbbells side to side.
Anyway, 20 reps each exercise every single day. Sounds like a big PITA, but I have a home gym, and I can do the whole routine in about 6 minutes if I don't take any breaks.
I started out very light: doc said to start with a weight that I could barely feel any pain with after 10 reps. That meant I had to start wrist curls with 12 lbs, my elbow hurt that much. I'm now up to 35 lbs and while there's still a little discomfort at times, it's mild and I can play hockey pretty much pain free. I had to quit playing hockey, I stopped training back, stopped training biceps, anything that required gripping and pulling. I'm back to regular training and making gains again!
I also jump started the recovery with a round of IGF-1, which I did 100 mcg a day, including a couple shots directly into the injured tendon. This had a very positive effect and I think I'm going to try another round of it to see if I can get rid of the lingering, minor soreness that remains.
I hope someone else who has this problem reads this; I'd been told and tried all the typical things, including rest, ice, a compression bandage, tennis/golfer's elbow "sleeve", etc. None of that bullshit worked at all. My next option was surgery, which I wasn't excited about at all.
So, the sports medicine doc I saw about it most recently had me start doing grip strength exercises: wrist curls, primarily, but in every direction, and specifically with dumbbells. "Underhand", "overhand" and also laterally, in both directions. I also made up an exercise which is supposed to mimic the action of stickhandling with a hockey stick, as this is usually what flares it up the worst. I hold a pair of hex dumbbells by the hex with arms in front as if doing hammer curls and roll the dumbbells side to side.
Anyway, 20 reps each exercise every single day. Sounds like a big PITA, but I have a home gym, and I can do the whole routine in about 6 minutes if I don't take any breaks.
I started out very light: doc said to start with a weight that I could barely feel any pain with after 10 reps. That meant I had to start wrist curls with 12 lbs, my elbow hurt that much. I'm now up to 35 lbs and while there's still a little discomfort at times, it's mild and I can play hockey pretty much pain free. I had to quit playing hockey, I stopped training back, stopped training biceps, anything that required gripping and pulling. I'm back to regular training and making gains again!
I also jump started the recovery with a round of IGF-1, which I did 100 mcg a day, including a couple shots directly into the injured tendon. This had a very positive effect and I think I'm going to try another round of it to see if I can get rid of the lingering, minor soreness that remains.
I hope someone else who has this problem reads this; I'd been told and tried all the typical things, including rest, ice, a compression bandage, tennis/golfer's elbow "sleeve", etc. None of that bullshit worked at all. My next option was surgery, which I wasn't excited about at all.
