UKC

The one shown in the video appears to be just a tensioned piece of fabric, how can this possibly serve to lessen an impact on a damaged tendon?

Many thanks
brunchman

Seen towards the end of the video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-qO3WxSbko


edit: spelling

In reply to brunchman:

Also because the brace is essentially squeezing the forearm, this would restrict blood vessels and lead to pump more quickly.

In reply to brunchman:

just having pressure on the spot where youre feeling the pain does help immensely.
When I was really suffering I massaged the crap out of my elbows. Those Asian soup spoons are great for really working into it.

In reply to brunchman:

My understanding is that tennis/golfers elbow (I think the former is on the outside, the latter on the inside) is caused by friction between tendons which run parallel to each other. An elbow support - such as velcro strap - reduce the rubbing and therefore the inflammation.

Yes it can cause you to get pumped quicker, but the key to resolving the problem is gentle exercise - works better than complete rest.

This much I learned from experience and the advice of a physio who was treating my broken ankle. I was somewhat disappointed to find that 4 weeks enforced break from climbing hadn't resolved my golfers elbow (an embarrassing ailment for someone who hates golf), but using a support did.

In reply to brunchman:

I had tennis elbow at the start of the year. Wearing a support, resting from climbing, but doing intensive and consistent icing and rehab cleared it up within about 6-8 weeks. I was truly astonished as I thought I'd be 'out of action' for the rest of the year it was that painful. Dynabar, dynaband, powerball, self massage and some physio sessions. The articles on here are a good and useful place to start. When I got back into climbing on it I wore a band until I felt it wasn't needed any more. Another month or two. I've been fine since. Good luck.

In reply to brunchman:

Stretching works. Everything else is a gimmick.

In reply to brunchman:

Buy Dave Mcleod's Make or Break, you won't regret it. I have suffered from tennis elbow pain in both arms for over six years and have finally solved the problem with a complicated regime of eccentric exercises.

His book, which I have just finished reading, basically summarises everything it has taken me six years to learn/work out.

For me massage, ice packs, elbow straps etc only offered short-term pain relief. The solution is eccentric wrist curls (using weights or a theraband bar) and lots of them.

Hope this helps

In reply to maxsmith:


Having gone through physio treatment this year for elbow pain, I'd agree with this. In my case, recurrence of an old injury, probably brought on by getting daughter's car seat in and out of the car with her in it.

My physio recomended an epi clasp brace for short term and, in fact, recommended electrical tape around the forearm as an alternative, which I found great when the clasp was too bulky and for swimming. Anti-inflamatories also help.

The bulk of the rest of his advice/treatment involved massage and, as you say, using weights, squeeze balls and tension bands of increasing resistance to gently work the muscles and increase the strength.

I'm not quite there, but it's much better than it was.

In reply to brunchman:

I suffered from mild golfer's elbow for about 2 years (self diagnosed so could have been something different). I would get a dull deep ache around the inside of my elbow brought on by bouldering. This would become increasingly painful to the point of being in a fair amount of pain for up to 30 minutes after trying a problem (at its most severe). Although the pain would always go away after a couple of days rest, it would inevitably come back after any more than 1 (relatively) hard bouldering session.

Around a year ago I started doing the stretch described by Tom Randall in his blog (https://tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/golfers-elbow-a-possibl... after every climbing session as part of my warm down. Combined with regular sets of push-ups (3 sets of 20, 5-6 days per week) I believe I have effectively cured by elbow problems.

Although I'm sure there were multiple factors which helped, such as doing a more thorough warm up / warm down, I am convinced that this stretch was one of the main contributors.

I have also noticed that the stretch is mentioned in Dave Macleod's new book although I think the evidence for its effectiveness is mostly anecdotal.

One thing to be aware of if starting to use this stretch is that it is very deep so caution should be taken not to over-do it. At the beginning I simply eased into the position (with arms straight under the torso and palms on the floor) supported by my feet on tiptoes and held it for 10 seconds or so before releasing and repeating a few times. Now that I'm used to it I do alternating static leg raises holding for 5 seconds each with 10 reps on each leg. This causes a deeper stretch in each arm.

Hope this helps. It certainly worked for me and it costs nothing.

In reply to maxsmith:



Yup. I meant theraband bar in my comment above, not dynabar. The green one...like in the video here: http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=6156

In reply to brunchman:

The idea of the elbow brace in question is that offloads the tendons that attach to the lateral epicondyle (the obvious boney prominance on the outside of your elbow that is sore). The braces have a local pad (often silicone) that applies pressure immediately below the epicondyle in order to reduce the forces at the attachment a little and reduce the pain. The same principle as a patella band. Evidence of their effectiveness is mixed. I've fitted many over the years and some braces are better than others (some don't even have a pad for example). The Bioskin supports are probably the best quality/fitting. If in doubt then maybe order one and try it out if unavoidable daily tasks such as work activities are causing pain.

In reply to Lee Harrison:

When I have bad tennis elbow (too many pull-ups) I cured it by using a tightly rolled elastic bandage right across the tender spot when climbing, un-rolling it between pitches. That appeared to work as you describe above and sorted it quickly after suffering a long period of pain in both elbows,


Chris

In reply to brunchman:

I used to get pain tennis or golfers not sure when i was resting I used a tubular bandage type support from 'the bay' that I got for a couple of quid used this while I slept too this seemed to help a lot something to do with repair I think.

In reply to zimpara:

The clinical evidence would suggest otherwise. Progressive and very specific strengthening exercises work, everything else is just a gimmick

In reply to brunchman:
I had quite bad elbow pain, both tennis and golfer's elbow earlier this year and I don't even climb that hard (nor do I go anywhere near tennis or golf).

I rested it for a couple of months, almost no climbing or gym work, and it did nothing to help. Massage felt OK at the time but did nothing long term.

Julian Saunders' videos are often recommended but I did not find them clear or particularly helpful.

BUT the general message of *properly done* eccentric wrist curls - very slow lowering, full stretch, NO lifting - are the solution. I experience relief within a week and after a few weeks the symptoms were almost completely gone. I recommended to a friend and he had the same success even faster.

Note: In addition to climbing (or tennis or golf) I know mine was made worse by both:
a) doing a particular weight training shoulder press that locked my arms/elbows into an unnatural movement, and
b) resting too long on my armchair armrest and desk while on the internet

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

Yeah that worked for me as well.