Going thru some TE right now and im sure as most people in the same situation im somewhat overwhelmed by all the different information about what you should and not do, what works what doesnt and so on. So i thought lets make a thread where we can find out about firstly how did you get youre TE, and how did you completely recover from it. Im not talking about changing of equipment and things like that, if youre TE is only so bad that you can continue to play thats not what im looking for. Looking for succes stories from people that developed a TE that was so bad they had to stop playing tennis all together and what was the succesful way to a complete recovery from that?
Tennis elbow succes stories...
- Thread starter Arvid
- Start date
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
There have been many TE/GE threads in the forum. Do a search and read them: the answers you're looking for likely are already there.
Well sure the succes stories are out there in other threads, but many of those stories are usually inside of threads with other main topics, i thought it could be a good idea to have a thread that only dealt with TE succes stories, to get a better compressed overview of things that has actually worked....
I damaged my elbow playing with too stiff strings and an underpowered racquet many years ago and gave up playing for a while but, eventually, I badly wanted to return to tennis. I was able to resume playing by switching to an oversized and flexible frame that was strung at mid tension with a soft synthetic gut strung at medium tension. Also, I played down so that my opponents did not hit the ball as hard. It made a difference for the better. Pros kept trying to move me up to the better players but it was disastrous when they did - my elbow could not handle the pace of shot, especially if I mishit the ball. If the condition is chronic then I suggest taking a break from the game and when you return to playing do not use your old equipment. Instead, select new equipment and a playing style so that they prolongs your ability to play without pain. Yes, there will be compromises but with your new racquet and safe style of play you will once again be able to enjoy tennis without interruption and, hopefully, pain free.
ShaneTrain
New User
I got tennis elbow for a while. I waited till it didnt hurt and started playing again and it flared up. Then I waited until a week after it had hurt, and I still re-injured it. Finally I played lefty for a solid month with a one handed backhand. Took my right arm completely out of the game except for the ball toss. When I came back I was good to go. I pre-emptively ice my elbow every time i play even though it doesnt hurt any more because i read that helps prevent flare-ups.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
You have to rest till the pain subsides and don’t do repetitive actions like tennis. You should ice often when it still hurts to reduce inflammation. After the pain starts to subside, get on a strengthening routine using a physical trainer or a tool like Flexbar. Massage above and below the injured area with a percussion massager or trained therapist also helps. Rest and a strengthening routine are probably the keys to a quicker recovery.
When you start tennis again, play only with soft strings like gut or multifilament for a few months preferably at tensions below 57 lbs. If you have a racquet with a strung stiffness RA above 66-67 or a vibration frequency spec above 140, you might want to change racquets also to a more flexible racquet.
When you are well enough to experiment with poly or poly hybrids again in the future, string well below 50 lbs and cut them out after 12-15 hours if they don’t break before that. Many elbow injuries are caused these days by playing with poly strings too long after they go dead and start feeling ‘harsh’. Don‘t wait till the control gets erratic due to low tension before you replace them - cut them out as soon as they don’t feel comfortable anymore.
When you start tennis again, play only with soft strings like gut or multifilament for a few months preferably at tensions below 57 lbs. If you have a racquet with a strung stiffness RA above 66-67 or a vibration frequency spec above 140, you might want to change racquets also to a more flexible racquet.
When you are well enough to experiment with poly or poly hybrids again in the future, string well below 50 lbs and cut them out after 12-15 hours if they don’t break before that. Many elbow injuries are caused these days by playing with poly strings too long after they go dead and start feeling ‘harsh’. Don‘t wait till the control gets erratic due to low tension before you replace them - cut them out as soon as they don’t feel comfortable anymore.
I have te , ge and nerv impigement same time .
Got it from computer.
Rest doesnt help much in many cases.
Never helped me.
Your muscled have gone stiff and short and that is the new meta for them so you need to relax them and make them long again slowly..
Same time you will need to get rid of inflamation which is done with extra blood flow which is hard to do with rest coz little blood comes to forearms. And even then you still have stiff and short muscles forearm to deal with.
So :
1.You need to know how and where to massage that is the first thing. Every day .
Promotes blood flow and relaxes .
Your forearms needs to become very very soft like old womans.
2. Work out at least 1x per day .
Some high reps plus eccentric exercises.
To promote blood flow and extend the muscle again.
Also you need to do both sides of the forearm biceps and triceps if you dont want high reps to injure you as well.
So it will take 20 to 30 min with massage at first.
If you are willing to do this i will write how to do it, if not dont wanna waste my time.
Got it from computer.
Rest doesnt help much in many cases.
Never helped me.
Your muscled have gone stiff and short and that is the new meta for them so you need to relax them and make them long again slowly..
Same time you will need to get rid of inflamation which is done with extra blood flow which is hard to do with rest coz little blood comes to forearms. And even then you still have stiff and short muscles forearm to deal with.
So :
1.You need to know how and where to massage that is the first thing. Every day .
Promotes blood flow and relaxes .
Your forearms needs to become very very soft like old womans.
2. Work out at least 1x per day .
Some high reps plus eccentric exercises.
To promote blood flow and extend the muscle again.
Also you need to do both sides of the forearm biceps and triceps if you dont want high reps to injure you as well.
So it will take 20 to 30 min with massage at first.
If you are willing to do this i will write how to do it, if not dont wanna waste my time.
You should still read those old threads. Many of the success stories are there and probably the vast majority of those posters likely will not repeat their posts here. You can search my posts and get my success story.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
My success story is this:
TE 2016 - had increased playtime, switched to a Pure Drive Plus with poly strings
At its worst I couldn't lift even the lightest of weights with my arm pronated. But it rarely hurt in tennis once I warmed up. But hurt afterwards like a mother.
Failed solutions:
1) Multi strings in my PD+ - no improvement and the racket was uncontrollable rocket launcher unless the string tension was 60lbs
2) Switched Rackets to a Blade Countervail - no difference. Countervail is a hoax IMO. Glad it's gone.
3) Stretching and icing - no real improvements other than short term pain relief with icing. Still couldn't lift anything.
Solutions that did work:
1) Switched to Prince Phantom 100 with multi strings
2) Flexbar exercises
3) Deep massage of forearm muscles
4) Counterforce brace when playing
Within 1 month of doing all 4 of those things the pain substantially improved and by 2 months I was feeling almost normal.
Things I didn't try:
1) Physio, massage, chiro, acupuncture
2) Surgery
3) Rest
These things may work but I found my solutions with less expensive and less invasive remedies.
TE 2016 - had increased playtime, switched to a Pure Drive Plus with poly strings
At its worst I couldn't lift even the lightest of weights with my arm pronated. But it rarely hurt in tennis once I warmed up. But hurt afterwards like a mother.
Failed solutions:
1) Multi strings in my PD+ - no improvement and the racket was uncontrollable rocket launcher unless the string tension was 60lbs
2) Switched Rackets to a Blade Countervail - no difference. Countervail is a hoax IMO. Glad it's gone.
3) Stretching and icing - no real improvements other than short term pain relief with icing. Still couldn't lift anything.
Solutions that did work:
1) Switched to Prince Phantom 100 with multi strings
2) Flexbar exercises
3) Deep massage of forearm muscles
4) Counterforce brace when playing
Within 1 month of doing all 4 of those things the pain substantially improved and by 2 months I was feeling almost normal.
Things I didn't try:
1) Physio, massage, chiro, acupuncture
2) Surgery
3) Rest
These things may work but I found my solutions with less expensive and less invasive remedies.
SystemicAnomaly
Bionic Poster
I've successfully gotten tennis elbow a couple of times. And golfers elbow once. Any further questions?
Fintft
G.O.A.T.
Got some mild TE.
Switched to full bed natural gut at 50-52LBs for one string job and now back on again at 55-57 LBs.
Heavy racquet, ideally with shock absorbing properties.
Fluid/relaxed strokes using the large muscles.
Switched mouse to the left hand and most activities as well.
Early prep (based on lessons)
Switched to full bed natural gut at 50-52LBs for one string job and now back on again at 55-57 LBs.
Heavy racquet, ideally with shock absorbing properties.
Fluid/relaxed strokes using the large muscles.
Switched mouse to the left hand and most activities as well.
Early prep (based on lessons)
GrandSlam45
Rookie
My perfect storm for TE/GE was years of poor desk ergonomics and intensively using a mouse on a daily basis. I've worked as a coder and graphic designer, so I was in front of a computer all day everyday for 15 years. I took 4 years off from tennis due to getting married, re-location, job changes, etc. I just didn't have time for it. Then I found time to start playing again and destroyed my arm within the first couple of weeks by using a tightly strung light racquet and bashing the ball too hard, not taking into account the lack of conditioning from the 4 years hiatus.
It took an entire year to heal. My recipe for healing was:
- switched mouse to left hand
- daily acupressure massage
- stretching ALL the muscles in the arm and shoulders
- switched to a heavy racquet with gut/nylon strings w/low tension
It took an entire year to heal. My recipe for healing was:
- switched mouse to left hand
- daily acupressure massage
- stretching ALL the muscles in the arm and shoulders
- switched to a heavy racquet with gut/nylon strings w/low tension
mmk
Hall of Fame
Used a too stiff racquet (RA 70) with poly strings for two games, felt pain and switched to a much flexier racquet. But the pain stayed around, and I played two days later when I shouldn't have. Hit the hardest shot I've ever hit, felt something snap in my elbow and had to stop playing. I couldn't lift my lower arm the next day, had to button my shirt single-handed with my left (off) hand, put my car in drive and park by reaching across with my left hand, etc. Good thing I didn't have a manual transmission.
I used ice, flexbars (had to start with the lightest, got up to blue) and electrical stimulation for a few weeks. About a month later I was playing with a TE brace using a 56 RA racquet with x-one biphase string, and a few months later with poly. I still occasionally use a flexbar, and won't use a racquet with an RA over 60.
I used ice, flexbars (had to start with the lightest, got up to blue) and electrical stimulation for a few weeks. About a month later I was playing with a TE brace using a 56 RA racquet with x-one biphase string, and a few months later with poly. I still occasionally use a flexbar, and won't use a racquet with an RA over 60.
I have been going through this for the last 2 years. I tired multifilament strings, soft racquets, flexbar, ice, physio, rest, stretches, and everything else I could find on the forum. Finally asked a hand surgeon in about 3 minutes he diagnosed me with cubital tunnel syndrome/ulnar nerve entrapment/subluxation. Now I wear braces at night, do some flexbar, stretch, and have some pads where I rest my elbows at the computer. I can play again relatively pain-free. Wish I would have sought professional advice two years ago. To make matters worse...I'm a physician and play Sunday doubles with a group of physicians (all former college players) all of whom recommended the usual stuff on the forum. Spend a few bucks and an hour and see a good hand surgeon.
FiddlerDog
Hall of Fame
Rest until it does not hurt anymore. Other thread range from 1 month to 1 year.
Shroud
Talk Tennis Guru
I licked it and made it my bit@&.
Stretch all the time. All the time. Massage forearm all the time- bet you have knots you may not know about. Those get tight and pull on the tendon. Heat at night (like an arm sleeve that doesn't restrict blood flow...neoprene thigh wrap loosely).
Big ass grip on the racquet. Extra weight on the racquet. 30 years ago kids were playing with 14oz rax. Clean up your strokes especially the bh.
Stretch all the time. All the time. Massage forearm all the time- bet you have knots you may not know about. Those get tight and pull on the tendon. Heat at night (like an arm sleeve that doesn't restrict blood flow...neoprene thigh wrap loosely).
Big ass grip on the racquet. Extra weight on the racquet. 30 years ago kids were playing with 14oz rax. Clean up your strokes especially the bh.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
I should have never responded to this thread. Almost 3 days after I responded, started to get some twinges in the elbow and now I've got the TE back. Although my shoulder and GE have never felt better.
Of course several things I did wrong that may have set it off again:
1) Switched to a lighter, lower SW frame so it would be easier on my shoulder - that part worked great for my shoulder
2) Started to work on changing my serve technique to flow more naturally - that part also was great for my shoulder and GE.
3) Practiced the new serve motion a ton with the lighter frame and heavy Wilson Triniti balls
So a mixture of different frame, different motion and overuse. And the added shock of hitting a heavy ball in cool weather with a 320 SW frame (I usually use a 330-340 SW). I suspect that's the issue this time.
So back to some rest then Phantom 100 with lighter balls, looser grip, less time on court and no more serve practice for a bit. And the usual massage, stretching, flexbar.
Of course several things I did wrong that may have set it off again:
1) Switched to a lighter, lower SW frame so it would be easier on my shoulder - that part worked great for my shoulder
2) Started to work on changing my serve technique to flow more naturally - that part also was great for my shoulder and GE.
3) Practiced the new serve motion a ton with the lighter frame and heavy Wilson Triniti balls
So a mixture of different frame, different motion and overuse. And the added shock of hitting a heavy ball in cool weather with a 320 SW frame (I usually use a 330-340 SW). I suspect that's the issue this time.
So back to some rest then Phantom 100 with lighter balls, looser grip, less time on court and no more serve practice for a bit. And the usual massage, stretching, flexbar.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
The cubital tunnel and ulnar nerve are a long way from the lateral epicondyle. Surprised at that diagnosis. I can see someone mixing it up with golfer's elbow but not tennis elbow.
You are right my pain was on the medial side of the elbow.
Dartagnan64
G.O.A.T.
That makes much more sense then.
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