tennis elbow is finally getting much better!!!!

jimanuel12

jimanuel12

Semi-Pro
just wanted to let everyone know that the mean *** tennis elbow i have had since last june is just about healed up.
i live in ky, so the weather is not very good for tennis right now. i hope to get back on the courts in march if the weather is ok.
thanks to all that posted about how to help with the TE.
i have had (2) cortizone shots, lots of exercises, lots of rest and bought a Kennex 5G and a fischer pro 105 for the arm.
never never again will i play with a wilson hyper hammer, the worst possible racket for TE.
it has been a long long time in healing but the arm is about 90% now and i will take it easy for awhile and see how the arm reacts once i begin to play again.
just some hints for others who may be subject to TE:

1. play with a light head, heavy racket - 11.7oz or better
2. racket with stiffness rating of 65 or less
3. WARM UP BEFORE the match
4. Do arm exercises before the match to warm up the muscles
5. with the slightest hint of pain - stop and rest the arm, apply ice to the area and don't play again until the arm is better.

all the lessons above, i did not heed, and i have paid the price, over 6 months and not been able to play.
i have missed my tennis and hope to learn from my mistakes.
hope no one ever has TE. i would not wish that on my worst enemy.

thanks again
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
I got violently ill for a few days last week. Now my elbow is better and I've played several doubles matches with almost no pain at all. Maybe the dehydration did something good for my elbow.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
r2473 said:
You need to market this and sell it on an infomercial. I'm not sure how you can sell dehydration, but I bet there is a way.
Click to expand...


I'm still working on the marketing slogan. Maybe something like "you'll almost die but kiss elbow pain goodbye". Love the Bartleby quote BTW.
 
pshulam

pshulam

Hall of Fame
1. play with a light head, heavy racket - 11.7oz or better
2. racket with stiffness rating of 65 or less
3. WARM UP BEFORE the match
4. Do arm exercises before the match to warm up the muscles
5. with the slightest hint of pain - stop and rest the arm, apply ice to the area and don't play again until the arm is better.
Click to expand...
Good tips .. a RA of 65 seems high .. I would choose a rating less than 60.
A couple of more things:
- lower string tension (< 55 lb)
- use soft strings (i.e., multi-filament, natural gut)
- wear an elbow brace
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
mikeler said:
I got violently ill for a few days last week. Now my elbow is better and I've played several doubles matches with almost no pain at all. Maybe the dehydration did something good for my elbow.
Click to expand...

For sure you can market this! "Puke your pain away!"
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
I played 3 sets of singles on Saturday. I then played 2 sets of singles and 1 of doubles yesterday. The arm is good, just some minor stiffness. I must say I think the flexbar is well worth the few dollars it costs. If you have not bought them yet, I highly recommend them.
 
jimanuel12

jimanuel12

Semi-Pro
i have heard about them, where to purchase??

mikeler said:
I played 3 sets of singles on Saturday. I then played 2 sets of singles and 1 of doubles yesterday. The arm is good, just some minor stiffness. I must say I think the flexbar is well worth the few dollars it costs. If you have not bought them yet, I highly recommend them.
Click to expand...


where can i get one?
 
B

botticelli

New User
Funny you stated that because I got massive food poisoning and my TE got better. I know it sounds weird, but after reading the other poster regarding being sick I thought I would let everyone know.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
botticelli said:
Funny you stated that because I got massive food poisoning and my TE got better. I know it sounds weird, but after reading the other poster regarding being sick I thought I would let everyone know.
Click to expand...


Within 4 days, my elbow went from about a level 2/10 in pain to just about zero. It was pretty amazing.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
mikeler said:
I played 3 sets of singles on Saturday. I then played 2 sets of singles and 1 of doubles yesterday. The arm is good, just some minor stiffness. I must say I think the flexbar is well worth the few dollars it costs. If you have not bought them yet, I highly recommend them.
Click to expand...

What is a flexbar mate? Sounds interesting. I put it in the big river site and I got a lot of different stuff, at least on the UK one. Is it the rubber bars that you bend?
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
Theraband makes 3 of the twisting sticks with varying resistance. Get on YouTube and check out the Tyler Twist for TE and the reverse Tyler twist for GE. It has really helped with my GE.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
origmarm said:
Thanks guys very interesting. Do they come in different resistances? If so which do you use?
Click to expand...


Red = 10 pounds of force to twist
Green = 15 pounds of force to twist
Blue = 25 pounds of force to twist

I bought the green and blue, but the green was too easy for me, so I'm using the blue. Next time you are in Florida, stop by and I'll give you my green one. :)
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
mikeler said:
Red = 10 pounds of force to twist
Green = 15 pounds of force to twist
Blue = 25 pounds of force to twist
Click to expand...

Ok so Red = Child, Green = Adult, Blue = MAN (Grrrrr!) :)

Thanks mate, I think I'll go with the Blue, if it's too much then you can always "half twist" it. Or perhaps I'll get both green and blue and save my blushes...
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
origmarm said:
Ok so Red = Child, Green = Adult, Blue = MAN (Grrrrr!) :)

Thanks mate, I think I'll go with the Blue, if it's too much then you can always "half twist" it. Or perhaps I'll get both green and blue and save my blushes...
Click to expand...


I think the Red would be a waste of time for a man unless your elbow is very sore. In that case, you probably should not be using it anyways. If you have minimal elbow soreness, go Blue. I have pretty strong arms, so I wish they had one that was harder to twist than the Blue.
 
K

kslick

Rookie
I moved up to the blue one but after a week my elbow was starting to get sore so I moved back to the green. Green seems a little easy but for GE you really don't need to push it, it doesn't take a lot of "weight" to work the tendon.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
For some reason I can't get these in the UK from the big river site. Will have to look elsewhere or wait for the trip to the US. Did anyone try PowerBalls?
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
kslick said:
I moved up to the blue one but after a week my elbow was starting to get sore so I moved back to the green. Green seems a little easy but for GE you really don't need to push it, it doesn't take a lot of "weight" to work the tendon.
Click to expand...


Good point. I have not tried the TE exercises with it yet. Let me try it out tonight and I'll post back here on how it goes.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
origmarm said:
For some reason I can't get these in the UK from the big river site. Will have to look elsewhere or wait for the trip to the US. Did anyone try PowerBalls?
Click to expand...


Maybe try Googling "Thera-band flexbar". There are other knockoffs out there too that may be available.
 
Last edited:
S

sidzej

Rookie
I am doing both Tyler twist and the reverse twist with the blue bar. I gradually increased the repetitions from 5, 7 to 10 (3 x day) and want to increase it to 15. So far so good...
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
mikeler said:
Maybe try Googling "Thera-band flexbar". There are other knockoffs out there too that may be available.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is what I did in the end. I got the Thera-Band one just from another website in the UK.

Does it come with instructions for the exercises btw or will I have to look them up?
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
origmarm said:
Yeah this is what I did in the end. I got the Thera-Band one just from another website in the UK.

Does it come with instructions for the exercises btw or will I have to look them up?
Click to expand...


Look up "Reverse Tyler Twist" for GE and "Tyler Twist" for TE on YouTube. The instructions that come with the bars are not very good. I tried the TE exercise last night and it is a little bit tougher than the GE but I have no problem doing 3 sets of 15 for either exercise with the blue bar.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
origmarm said:
Ok so Red = Child, Green = Adult, Blue = MAN (Grrrrr!) :)

Thanks mate, I think I'll go with the Blue, if it's too much then you can always "half twist" it. Or perhaps I'll get both green and blue and save my blushes...
Click to expand...

For those of you who are recovering from TE, I would highly recommend that you start out with RED.

In rehab, you are trying to strengthen your tendon, not your muscle. Just because the flexbar feels easy on your muscles doesn't mean your tendons can handle it without risking injury.

I have all 3 bars, and I have found that the RED is quite helpful if you do the exercise correctly.

The Tyler exercise is to be done slowly especially on the eccentric phase (the very last part). You are to resist lengthening of the muscles around the wrist/forearm while still allowing a very slow lengthening. It may be a good idea to count slowly up to 10 during this phase. Do this for 3 sets of 15 reps each, and you will feel the burn.

Remember it is not how much force your muscles can exert. It is all about rehabilitating your injured tendon.

So take it easy on your tendon.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
Given the above comments and the mild nature of my TE I might just "split the difference" and go for the green one :)
 
K

kslick

Rookie
scotus said:
For those of you who are recovering from TE, I would highly recommend that you start out with RED.

In rehab, you are trying to strengthen your tendon, not your muscle. Just because the flexbar feels easy on your muscles doesn't mean your tendons can handle it without risking injury.

I have all 3 bars, and I have found that the RED is quite helpful if you do the exercise correctly.

The Tyler exercise is to be done slowly especially on the eccentric phase (the very last part). You are to resist lengthening of the muscles around the wrist/forearm while still allowing a very slow lengthening. It may be a good idea to count slowly up to 10 during this phase. Do this for 3 sets of 15 reps each, and you will feel the burn.

Remember it is not how much force your muscles can exert. It is all about rehabilitating your injured tendon.

So take it easy on your tendon.
Click to expand...

Great post.

I learned the hard way. I thought the green one was to easy so I jump up to the blue...well after a week I noticed my GE was getting really sore.I could complete the exercises but..... Then I thought back and remembered it doesn't take much weight to work the tendon and that is the main goal, not the muscle.
 
M

mark999

Rookie
origmarm said:
For some reason I can't get these in the UK from the big river site. Will have to look elsewhere or wait for the trip to the US. Did anyone try PowerBalls?
Click to expand...

try the cando twist and bend bars. very similar to the flex bars and usually cheaper. try the green if you have tennis elbow, blue if you have no pain and want to prevent TE.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
mark999 said:
try the cando twist and bend bars. very similar to the flex bars and usually cheaper. try the green if you have tennis elbow, blue if you have no pain and want to prevent TE.
Click to expand...

I decided against the Cando brand after reading those horror reviews.
 
C

ChrisBackAtIt

New User
I had a question regarding where the actual pain is in TE..

I realize "elbow" is in the name, but I wanted to know if the area effected by TE includes the outer arm above the elbow.

I have a funny feeling I've been swinging to violently on my serves with my LM Radical OS.
 
origmarm

origmarm

Hall of Fame
scotus said:
I decided against the Cando brand after reading those horror reviews.
Click to expand...

I ordered a Thera Band brand green one last night. Saw these but wasn't sure they were the same product, looks like I might have dodged a bullet. What horror reviews? Did I miss something?
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
ChrisBackAtIt said:
I had a question regarding where the actual pain is in TE..

I realize "elbow" is in the name, but I wanted to know if the area effected by TE includes the outer arm above the elbow.

I have a funny feeling I've been swinging to violently on my serves with my LM Radical OS.
Click to expand...


You have the large bone sticking out of your elbow then you have two smaller bony protrusions on the outside and inside of that. GE is on the inside and TE is on the outside. Depending on how bad the pain is, it may extend all the way up to the wrist. Luckily I never had pain in the arm, just the elbow area.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
mark999 said:
what horror reviews? been using the twist and bend for about 6 months and they are essentially the same as the theraband bars. ive used both.
Click to expand...


I'm sure both are fine. Last night I had no elbow pain so I almost decided against doing the exercise. Then I caved and did them and had no pain afterwards. These bars really seem to work for me.
 
athiker

athiker

Hall of Fame
I got the green and the blue Flexbar from www.ptmart.com They had the lowest price including shipping that I could find. I keep it by my desk and try to use it about 3x/day per the NY Times blog article.

I am an adult male and am still using the green. I wouldn't call it hard, but as mentioned above, I don't think the idea is to really stress your tendon but gradually rehab it via strengthening. The blue still feels a little too firm. My elbow has steadily improved...slowly but surely. I'm not playing as much as in the summer but I have played through the rehab.

I also ice at the first sign of real inflammation and wear a Band-it frequently. In addition I occasionally massage the area linearly (but not right after playing when it may be inflamed). Finally, I do some light stretching of both my top forearm and lower forearm. Oh, and I do take more care warming up now with light hitting 'mini-tennis' before heading to the baseline.

EDIT: I should also add I am more careful about hitting late on my 1HBH and have concentrated on hitting it with a firmer more stable wrist. I am more likely to slice my backhand if I'm late, which is probably the better play anyway, than try to wrist a topspin stroke.
 
Last edited:
J

J_R_B

Hall of Fame
ChrisBackAtIt said:
I had a question regarding where the actual pain is in TE..

I realize "elbow" is in the name, but I wanted to know if the area effected by TE includes the outer arm above the elbow.

I have a funny feeling I've been swinging to violently on my serves with my LM Radical OS.
Click to expand...

Tricep weakness is also a symptom of tennis elbow. This is the large muscle muscle on the outside of your arm between the elbow and shoulder. When I got TE last year, one of the worst symptoms was that I could barely pick anything up with my right hand because my tricep felt so weak. Although, I would not describe the sensation in the muscle as "pain", it was definitely weakness. The pain was in my elbow and forearm, particularly when I was grasping something. Another clear sign of TE is tenderness on the bone on the outside of the elbow (not the big pointy bone on the back, but the smaller bone on the outside). The injury is not to the bone itself but nerves that run on top of the bone, but if you push on the bone, you will feel tenderness in the elbow due to the nerve irritation.
 
mikeler

mikeler

Moderator
J_R_B said:
Tricep weakness is also a symptom of tennis elbow. This is the large muscle muscle on the outside of your arm between the elbow and shoulder. When I got TE last year, one of the worst symptoms was that I could barely pick anything up with my right hand because my tricep felt so weak. Although, I would not describe the sensation in the muscle as "pain", it was definitely weakness. The pain was in my elbow and forearm, particularly when I was grasping something. Another clear sign of TE is tenderness on the bone on the outside of the elbow (not the big pointy bone on the back, but the smaller bone on the outside). The injury is not to the bone itself but nerves that run on top of the bone, but if you push on the bone, you will feel tenderness in the elbow due to the nerve irritation.
Click to expand...


Same thing goes for the GE bone. If you press it, you'll feel some irritation. You can also damage the tendon connecting the triceps to the elbow. That is what happened to me before I added GE on top of it.
 
Bud

Bud

Bionic Poster
jimanuel12 said:
just wanted to let everyone know that the mean *** tennis elbow i have had since last june is just about healed up.
i live in ky, so the weather is not very good for tennis right now. i hope to get back on the courts in march if the weather is ok.
thanks to all that posted about how to help with the TE.
i have had (2) cortizone shots, lots of exercises, lots of rest and bought a Kennex 5G and a fischer pro 105 for the arm.
never never again will i play with a wilson hyper hammer, the worst possible racket for TE.
it has been a long long time in healing but the arm is about 90% now and i will take it easy for awhile and see how the arm reacts once i begin to play again.
just some hints for others who may be subject to TE:

1. play with a light head, heavy racket - 11.7oz or better
2. racket with stiffness rating of 65 or less
3. WARM UP BEFORE the match
4. Do arm exercises before the match to warm up the muscles
5. with the slightest hint of pain - stop and rest the arm, apply ice to the area and don't play again until the arm is better.

all the lessons above, i did not heed, and i have paid the price, over 6 months and not been able to play.
i have missed my tennis and hope to learn from my mistakes.
hope no one ever has TE. i would not wish that on my worst enemy.

thanks again
Click to expand...

Pretty much everything I did when I was suffering from TE as well.

I'd also add... no poly strings until it's all cleared up. Once it's healed, try the poly... if you feel any pain/stiffness drop it completely.
 
S

sciwriter

New User
I had very painful tennis elbow for a few months, but it has cleared up in part by using Thera-band. It really works, though it took about three or four weeks of rest from tennis and ice therapy in tandem with Thera-band. I started out with green and then advanced to blue. Using Thera-band has also helped a chronic repetitive stress problem from computer use. Once my arm was feeling better, I went back to tennis slowly. I still use the band to exercise and stretch my arm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rk_sports
Golfers Elbow
Replies
1
Views
989
3fees
3fees
T
is this a type of tennis elbow?
Replies
10
Views
2K
Chas Tennis
C
E
Tennis Elbow, Whats Up??
Replies
10
Views
995
Expired
E
R
What racket gave you tennis elbow and what did you switch to
Replies
14
Views
1K
ericwong
E
A
Tennis Elbow-What I learned!
Replies
8
Views
6K
DraGoNoFfiR3
D
Top