In reply to UKC Articles:
Here is my experience with elbow injuries: several years back I had tennis elbow, probably from campusing. I managed to beat it over several months with the blue (hardest) Thera Flexbar. I did a LOT of reps with this thing every day. It took probably 4-5 months but I woke up one day and the injury was gone. I also stopped climbing during this time.
Now I am dealing with golfer's elbow. This one is quite bad and was the result of both too much climbing and a single traumatic incident. I got an ultrasound diagnosis from a radiologist (a recommended step, don't self-diagnose) and I had tendinosis and a fairly large tear (clearly visible on the ultrasound). I decided to get a PRP injection and then wait for three months. This worked out not too badly as it probably got me 80% of the way there and got rid of the acute pain from the tear.
Then I started doing the eccentric exercises as outlined in the well-known Julian Saunders "Dodgy Elbows" pdf. The exercises he recommends use a dumbbell instead of the Flexbar as mentioned in the video. I agree with this strategy, as I've found using the Flexbar for golfer's elbow to be ineffective.
One change from the pdf that I've made is to take more rest. He recommends doing the exercises morning and evening with quite a bit of weight. I found this killed my elbow the next day. I do believe the weight should be heavy but I do fewer reps, just three sets of fifteen. Finally I do each rep very slowly, taking up to ten seconds to lower the weight. This is key as it seems the tendon responds to time under tension.
Regarding stretching, I find it's not effective unless it's done for a really extended period of time. I probably stretch the affected elbow for ten minutes a day or so.
Finally, there is a stretch that is not mentioned that is truly a secret weapon and has given me a lot of improvement: the Tom Randall Stretch. Google this and carefully read his post. Do it several times a day. It will take a couple of weeks but you'll notice the improvement.
It's taken eight months but I'm back to moderate climbing and I hope to be fully healed in another 4-6 weeks.
One last thing: inflammation is always a factor. I know people say tendinosis is not inflammatory etc. but this is false:
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/early/2013/03/08/bjsports-2012-091957.full
I take the occasional Celebrex when I go too hard with the rehab and it helps immensely.
Post edited at 23:28