Elbow Tendonitis from digging! Agh!

My own stubborn-ness (continuing to dig in the garden despite nagging elbow/forearm pain) left me with elbow tendonitis for like 2 1/2 months. Just thought I'd share how the three key things I did to get rid of it, since I know it's a problem.
1. Give it some rest and when you're ready, stretch everyday. The secret is to do forearm stretches, shoulder stretches, AND wrist stretches.. there's a few at www.mobilitywod.com
2. If you want to speed healing and eliminate inflammation, supplement with joint health nutrients and cissus. I used Elbow Revive simply because it's not expensive, it is effective, and has everything you need in it (www.elbowrevive.com). You could also buy each ingredient separate, but it'd be a pain in the ass.
3. Do eccentric exercises like reverse wrist curls (just google for others). These help strengthen the muscles and tendons so that the injury doesn't return.
After doing all of these three thing religiously for like 6 weeks, I'm feeling like I'm back to where I was before the injury. Hope that helps. Stay healthy, dudes.

Hi Hal,

I've gotten a similar issue before when I was doing alot of post- hole digging by hand (using a rock bar more than post hole digger), and using pneumatic drills. I found a couple additional things also helpful.

1. acupuncture- it can be expensive if your insurance doesn't cover it but works amazingly well
2. B vitamins, for alot of nerve related pain this is very helpful, especially tendonitis and carpal tunnel
3. sleeping with a wrist brace brace: when I sleep I tend to curl my wrists in, which compounds the problem. alot of times people will wear a brace when working but actually while sleeping seems to be more important.

Hope this helps someone,

I have had tendonitis in the past, once so bad my fingers were going numb. I discovered that deep tissue massage right around the swelling was what made it start receeding. I found a book about trigger point massage and had such good experiences with it that using it control tendonitis stuck with me through the years. I find starting with the palm and going up through the wrist, forearm, elbow really helps to keep blood flowing smoothly and avoid swelling. Almost always i find a spot under my arm or under my shoulder blade thats contributing to the problem. I think the effect would be similar to acuppuncture, but im not certain.
Usually, a simple exercise to keep this problem away is pushups.

Zach Muller wrote:I discovered that deep tissue massage right around the swelling was what made it start receeding...I find starting with the palm and going up through the wrist, forearm, elbow really helps to keep blood flowing smoothly and avoid swelling. Almost always i find a spot under my arm or under my shoulder blade thats contributing to the problem. I think the effect would be similar to acuppuncture, but im not certain...

Also known as acupressure.
http://acupressure.com/

I actually got it in the top of my foot. And since I'm on my feet all night every night at work, didn't really have an option of resting it. I took turmeric root supplements till it healed.

I got this from prolonged and rushed brick salvaging. It's been about three months now and it isn't gone yet. I've tried to go easy on it but it isn't always possible. I've been taking supplements.

I went to check the elbow revive site and it must be out of business as I got some sort of popup that wanted me to DL & install something. Any idea what was in it?