UKC

2 schools of thought
1) Climb through it but ease off on training
2) Total rest

What's your experience been?

In reply to JimR: Rest it seriously mate. Working it will for sure do more damage and cause more pain. I did try to work through it for ages and it kept giving in on me. I rested it completely for about 6 weeks and it has never been any bother to me again.
IMO

In reply to JimR:

I always find the best and quickest way back from any sort of sports injury is total rest for as lnog as you feel the need to then ease back into it.

Rushing back might only make it worse or see you below par for a long while.

In reply to Tom M Williams:

Ok for you but I'm 50 next year and can't afford to lose any hard gained fitness!

In reply to JimR:
>can't afford to lose any hard gained fitness!

you won't. This is an ideal time of year for rest and recovery, if you must climb stay off the walls and do EASY routes outdoors to keep those engrams ticking over

In reply to JimR:


i can't help then

In reply to JimR:

look on it this way

4-8 weeks off now

or all summer gone cos it starts to twinge when you pull on your shoes.

Your choice.

In reply to JimR:

Rest until the new year.

THen ease back in very gently, try doing some cross training too, such as bench press on light weights to help strengthen everything, and gentle streches.

The key is patience.

In reply to JimR:Therabands are quite good for rehab. See a climbing physio?

In reply to Timmd:

Im getting pysio 4 mine and been refered to a consultant. Sooooooooooooo unhappy that i cant train but need to rest it poopantbadwrongjobie

In reply to JimR:

I did mine after I was 50 and even though I had some intensive physio including magnetic and electric impulse therapy, and climbed with an elbow support it still took me 3 years including one year almost totally off climbing before I was pain free. (It wasn't so much the elbow or tendon pulleys, as the main attachment of the tendon to the biceps muscle that was damaged)

As anyone who knows me will testify I dont climb very much or very hard, but at the time I had my injury, the UAE was just getting developed and there were so many new routes waiting to be done that rest was the furthest thing from my mind. With hindsight it put my recovery back by at least 2 years. As we get older we cannot afford to rush tendon injuries.

The only, only thing you can do for tendons is rest. The terrible thing is that it always comes when we are strong, as we are training hard, and this is the time when we least want to rest.

I have the same story as all the others. I never rested enough and still five years later I am haunted by weak elbow tendons. However, at 33, I have learned how to deal with it and still climb.

Whenever, I get pain, I just stop climbing until it goes away. I also avoid working routes and stay away from long overhangs. I am limited but I can still do the sport I love. Rest, rest, rest. It will take you a month to get that strength back in the summer.

Simon Tendons

In reply to JimR:

Rest for a while until they stop twinging all the time.

Then when getting back to things -

Warm up properly!

20 or 30 push ups immediately after every session.

Stretch those arms in every concievable way.

It worked for me, and I thought my elbow pain would never go away.

In reply to JimR: Rest - once your back to being able to work out the reverse wrist curls are supposed to be great for rehab and prevention. Try

http://www.nicros.com/New%20Training%20Center/medial_epicondylitis.shtml

for more info.

In reply to all:

Many thanks, I have been doing the reverse wrist curls and pronating exercises before and after a training session and it has held the problem in check ie its not getting worse but its not going away. Sounds as if a wee rest might be a good idea might carry on until I get the carpal tunnel op cos I presume then there will be a few weeks of enforced rest!

In reply to Jus:
I second every sentence in this post.

In reply to JRobertson:

You're falling apart at the seams! Maybe if you just coat yourself in ducktape head to toe?

In reply to Craig Geddes:


Git ... better not mention my dislocated shoulder or torn knee cartiledge!

In reply to JimR: I used to have medial and lateral epicondylitis (golfers and tennis) in both elbows and it hurt when I climbed. I went to see an osteopath who has cured the lateral epicondylitis and is well on the way to fixing the other one. Don't get any pain climbing anymore, just some twinges after mtbing.
Tendonitis in the elbow could be caused by any number of factors, getting a suitable diagnosis from the internet is next door to useless. For example, the problem in your elbow could be caused by tightness in your forearms, biceps, chest or back, but until your are diagnosed you won't know. (it's all of them for me!) See a professional, find out what the problem is and get it treated. If you can't afford ongoing treatment then there maybe stretches and exercises that the osteo or physio will be able to show which you can do yourself. Good luck.

In reply to JimR:

You old people should expect these kind of problems. However, us 48 year olds being a lot younger use the following methods.

I suffer from this with both elbows all the way through the winter training/wall period. So if i were you i'd rest for a week or two then use the following:

Epicondulite splint for one elbow, and a strap for the other elbow.followed by a fine lubrication of viytrol gel to the swelling after climbing . Its now availbale over the counter.

I use the straps/splints whenever i go on the wall or try harder boulder problems. It helps to prevent the tennis/golfers elbow .

My girl freind is a Finnish athlete and plays foot ball for Chelsea womens team and she trains very hard as do a lot ofpeople on here. She swears that having a all over body sports masage twice a week is essential for staying injury free because it keeps the muscles loose which result in a lot less tension through tendons etc. Seems to work for her as she does'nt get injured but this aproach can get expensive.....

Also muscle balance is critical to staying injury free and it is worth doing strength training at the gym so you keep some muscle balance. I found that after doing 9 months hard climbing training at it 4-5 times a week my muscles were totally disproportionally developed which contributed to my elbow problem (golfers). I think balance is a key thing in your training to avoid injury. Also I'd say that beasting yourself on indor climbing walls for months without a rest is not that good for you IMO...

Good luck getting rid of it.

GWA

In reply to Geoff Arnold:
Agreed on the antagonistic training, i think overdevelopment of the climbing muscles and weak antagonistic muscles added in with a poor warm up and lack of proper stretching and "under resting" is the root of the problem. Just out of intrest Did you use sports massage for your elbow problem?

If so did it help?

cheers
R.