# Tennis elbow



## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

And I don't play tennis 

I took a kick to the hand from a horse mid-April and it jammed my elbow, resulting in bi-lateral tennis elbow.

I wear the support band, and hubby massages it, any ideas of what else I can do.

Hurts like a you-know-what and is affecting my work.


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

Tiempo - (Waving no-longer-hurting-arm-attached-to-elbow!) Yeah, I had it too! The support bandy-thing helped, and after some _painful_ days, I did ice it down, too. 

They say it can take *several* months to heal, but eventually it does.... That being said...

Yours truly was in_ such_ pain that I had surgery. Not exactly my first choice, but I was given the option of cortisone injection first, and surgery if it didn't improve.... Ugh. No injection - I went straight for the scalpel!  But it worked wonderfully. No more pain, ever. It's like I never had a problem.

Perhaps something (I also did this) to try on days when you aren't stressing it so much is to use a castor oil pack with warm heat. Schmear castor oil on your elbow, cover with a washcloth, etc. and apply a heating pad for about 20 minutes. Ahh..... And oh! I almost forgot! The other thing that did help was to also wear a wrist immobilizer/brace at the same time as the elbow band. It _really_ helped to keep from flexing the tendons, and lessened the pain considerably. Yeah, it felt gawky, but it gave my aching elbow a rest! 

Hang in there, girl!


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

Thank you! I will try the warm castor oil wraps  and the wrist support, although I doubt if I can work with one on.

Tennis elbow always sounded like such a silly malady..I mean how much can it hurt? 

Well I found out..no fun at all. Especially as the more difficult horses I work with seem to sense my weakness and take advantage 

I was just out at a clients place and she took one look at the arm band and said, "ah..tennis elbow..I'm sorry"!

She works on the line building trucks at Ford and got it from getting nailed by a piece of machinery a few years ago, and she showed me some stretches to do.


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## Bee_Rain (Jun 15, 2004)

I had tennis elbow last year for about 3 months. It went away on its own but boy, did it hinder alot of activities! It's one of those things, imo, that has to run its course before it disappears. 

I wore the elbow support whenever possible which I think sped up the recovery.


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## BarefootMeadows (Oct 22, 2007)

My DH has been battling this type of an elbow issue for over 6 months...they have put him thru therapy, various xrays, shock treatments and he still has sooooo much pain. He has also been wearing an elbowband too. He broke that wrist when he was a youngster working in a cannery. It got caught on a conveyor belt and ...yup, you guessed it...snap. SO, 20 plus years later, and nearly all of those years being a carpenter and swinging a hammer, here he is...Labor and Industries it thinking about permanent disability and probably no more work! UGH! It making him stir crazy sitting around home all the time. Its not making him a fun guy any more either! lol
What surgery did you have done?


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## Cheribelle (Jul 23, 2007)

I have recurring bouts of this. It does go away eventually, but it also returns more easily every time.
As far as surgery goes, my sister had surgery on hers, they removed 2 onces of scar tissue! And yes, it really did help!


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## Murron (Oct 17, 2007)

Tiempo ~~ Just have to share a funny about it.... One of the worst things (besides the never-ending ache and pain) was that I couldn't possibly pick up my coffee-travel mug out of the holder in my truck! Ooooh. Now that hurt. In more ways than one! 

And I agree, the wrist thingie was so inconvenient. 

I do hope that you find some relief.  

Tee hee... Wasn't it funny when they said "You have tennis elbow." I knew what they meant, but had to snicker and naturally say that I'd never "tennised" in my whole life! lol.


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