Cure for Tennis Elbow?

[michael_1265]

Last summer, I was reading NYT Online and I came across an article about how some doctors got together and developed a simple, at-home method to simulate the exercises that normally would be done in therapy for tennis elbow. The results they got sounded amazing, but since I have never been bothered by TE, I just passed the article on to a few friends who were, not giving it a second thought. Fast forward a few months, and I find myself playing 10-15 sets a week, more than ever before. Suddenly, I started struggling with what I understand is called Golfer’s elbow, which strikes the inside of the arm. I searched the article I’d read before, and purchased the exercise aid, known as a Thera-Band, for $20 at Amazon. Prior to using it, I literally had to pull my arm straight in the morning after getting out of bed. Two days of use, maybe 10 minutes total, and I was at least 80% cured. I usually don’t go for this kind of stuff, but it was the cost of one co-pay…..how could I lose? I have no idea if it works this well for everyone, but if TE is slowing you down, give it a shot. You can find them on Amazon and probably a bunch of other places.

 

[scotus]

I am glad you are getting good results.

Thera-Band is popular here and we have discussed that article before.

I myself use do the Tyler twists & reverse regularly.

 

[mikeler]

I keep trying to wean myself off the flexbar but everytime I try, my Golfer's Elbow (GE) starts to slowly come back. It is a great product that works.

 

[michael_1265]

I keep trying to wean myself off the flexbar but everytime I try, my Golfer's Elbow (GE) starts to slowly come back. It is a great product that works.

The simplicity and effectiveness of it amaze me. We need more solutions like this.

 

[mikeler]

The simplicity and effectiveness of it amaze me. We need more solutions like this.

It's pretty amazing but now that I'm back to using it again 6 days a week, I have no elbow pain. I may try weaning again in a few months.

 

[sidzej]

I find it really excellent for prevention of the TE. I am about to end 2010 tennis season (end of September) without interruption due to TE. I can pretty much say that it was a painfree season, also thanks to using flexbar on a daily basis (I also changed racquet and started to use softer strings). I can clearly see and feel how stronger my forearm muscles are and what impact does it have. I couldn't imagine to play 4 matches in 24 hours without injury last year. This year, no problem with that. I used to have TE pain if I played 3 matches in 3 days last year!

I will continue to use it, even though not daily during the winter season.

 

[jbravo]

The Flexbar has really helped me as well. I used it for a while with poor results and discovered I was not performing the excercises exactly correct. Now that I'm using it properly my TE is so much better.

 

[JackB1]

The Flexbar has really helped me as well. I used it for a while with poor results and discovered I was not performing the excercises exactly correct. Now that I'm using it properly my TE is so much better.

What exactly were you doing wrong? It looks pretty simple??

 

[jbravo]

I used to twist the flexbar close to my chest then extend my arms and sometimes I would extend my arms while twisting and that would cause some discomfort. After looking at the video online I started extending my arms shoulder height and then perform the twisting motion start to finish. I know it sounds trivial but the twisting motion with my arms bent caused some pain and probably irritated the ligament. There has been noticeable improvment since I changed the process.

 

[JackB1]

I used to twist the flexbar close to my chest then extend my arms and sometimes I would extend my arms while twisting and that would cause some discomfort. After looking at the video online I started extending my arms shoulder height and then perform the twisting motion start to finish. I know it sounds trivial but the twisting motion with my arms bent caused some pain and probably irritated the ligament. There has been noticeable improvment since I changed the process.

In the video, it looks like the girl is twisting with the "non involved" left hand BEFORE she is strightening out her arms and THEN letting the right hand untwist. You have to "load" the bar before you straighten your arms.
You can't really hold the bar out in front of you with both arms extended AND THE begin the entire motion? I am a little confused how you are doing it, but if it is working for you, then by all means. I just do it exactly as they show in the video. Pretty simple.