What can I do about bad Tendonitus

[Merlin4458]

Just been diagnosed with tendonitus in my elbow going up to my shoulder. I do alot of tennis coaching and love playing the game. The doctor basically said i need to go see a physio(which will take 4 weeks) In my experience i dont really rate physios for this kinda threatment, i mean how are they going to cure a tendom(ive had this problem since i was 16, im now 22) I basically get a crazydead arm.

Has anyone had any experience with tendonitus and know other ways to preventing this from coming up again. Im a v skinny lad and thought maybe building my arms up for support, but she said no which i find strange.

Read online u can buy ur own ultra sound kit to heal it urself from home, duno how much of that is a gimmick

Any help guys? Im feeling pretty down atm tbh, as ive only just started playing again

[Fraz]

Just wait until you get to 28!

I'll be surprised if I can even walk when I reach 50...

Only advice I can give is that as you get older, you've got to take more and more care of everything, and you def can't get away with things you did as a kid. I have been training for a half marathon over the past few months, and have been blighted with knee and ankle problems that I could have prevented if I'd been a bit more careful and not presumed that my body still works like it did when I was a kid.

Not much help on the tendonitus front, but useful info nonetheless.

[Ripper]

When I had tendonitis in my foot, I was perscribed some pills which cleared it up. Not had a reoccurance. However, cant remember what the tablets were.

[charleski]

What does 'crazydead arm' mean?
Are you saying your arm gets numb, do you get pins and needles?

If you have a supraspinatus tendonitis in your shoulder (which can cause pain radiating down the arm) then physiotherapy is the treatment of choice, and you have to keep doing the physio for several months. A steroid injection will provide temporary relief (and for some people this can last a long time), but physio is necessary in most cases.

My advice is to go to the physio and do the exercises. DIY ultrasonic muscle heating will probably just screw up something else.

[Merlin4458]

Its goes dead, as if you got punched in the arm back in the school days. It prevents me from swinging properly, and as a coach that really doesnt help.

Im going to start taking voltoral again(anti-inflamatries)

I really hope this physio helps, my only worry is that it will jsut come bk again..I mean why would it jsut go away, when it came bk after 4 years of not playing tennis from 18-22 (ive jsut started the apst months playing again)

My personal view/hope is that:

- Voltorol + physio will remove the tendinitus

- Stretching, light weight lifting slowly strengthening will prevent it ever coming bk

I can only hope though as ive always been swamped with injuries

[charleski]

Voltarol will help the pain, but it's really just a pain-killer in cases like this. It's important to do the right exercises, which is what the physio will show you. And if you've had it before, I'd advise making those exercises part of your regular routine so it doesn't come back again. Here's a page on it.

I'm only assuming that what you have is supraspinatus tendonitis, because it's incredibly common.

[Merlin4458]

Its not supraspinatus, its mainly in the inner elbow, its not tennis or golfers elbow as they are more around the bone. Still gotta wait 4 flipping weeks for a physio appointment which is a big of a piss take. God i hate the NHS, has nothing on private health

[0iD]

I waited 3 months for a physio apointment last time. Voltarol & physio didnt clear up my tendonitis either. Went back to the GP & got a steroid injection into the muscle. Did the business in the end.

[Merlin4458]

- 0iD where was ur tendonitis?
- Has the injection completly cleared it up?
- Do u still play sports or whatever u did to create the problem
- Im tempted to request an injection as a 4 weeks wait jsut to see a physio is going to criple my financial situation as thats my living being a coach

Asking to be refered to a orthapeadic surgen too to try get all the balls rolling

[charleski]

If it's affecting your work then you should get it injected. Avoid strenuous activity for about a day afterwards, but beyond that you'll be fine. If you ask for a consultation you'll probably end up waiting longer, but your local hospital's rheumatology dept should have an injection clinic that your GP can get you into on short notice, ask him to phone up the rheumatology nurse specialist there, as they are the ones who organise the bookings for it.

You should still learn the physio exercices, even if the injection clears it up, otherwise it'll just happen again in the future.

[Merlin4458]

This all sounds very encouraging. Its nice to know that some people have benefitted from this injection. Its funny that she didnt even mention it! Booked to see her again next tuesday. Ive heard its incredibly painful. 0iD did you have it in ur elbow? on the inside?

Charlski, you sound like you know wot you talking about, but how do you know wot your talking about. Have u had experience with it urself or friends? Im not testing you, jsut after as much advice as possible

Thanks

[charleski]

I'm a doctor and have injected many joints and tendons .
Like everything, there's no guarantee an injection will work, but the vast majority do, for a while at least. In a very small number of cases an injection can actually make the pain worse as some people react to the preservative in the steroid, but this shouldn't last more than 48 hours. If they need to do a joint injection, that carries a risk of infection though that is very small as well.
You need to be as specific as possible about where the most tender spot is, and what movements make the pain worse so that the person who does it can localise the precise site of the inflammation.

[Merlin4458]

ok awesome

- Put ur arm so that ur inside of ur elbow is facing the sky.
- you have the bone on the left(closest to body) just to the the side of that bone going towards the middle of the elbow, that tendon is agony)
-and exaclty the same place on the other side of my elbow. (inline with the first pain point mentioned above)

i really want this sorted asap and i cant see physio heelping, but can see the voltoral helping the pain only, not prevention.

Is the injection meant to potentially cure? or jsut temporaraly releive the pain?

Really good to hear advice from a doctor on here tbh, totally unexpected

thanks

[charleski]

It's impossible to say what it is without examining you, there are a few possibilities given what you describe. A steroid injection will certainly help, but the root cause of it is often excess stress on the affected tendon caused by a relative weakness of the associated muscle compared to the opposing muscle group, so the right exercise can be essential. It all depends on the exact diagnosis, though, so it's difficult to generalise.

[rentagas]

You have a tender spot just next to the bone at the edge of your elbow? When it's bad your arm and hand go numb! Are you sure it's the tendon that's the problem?

[charleski]

I doubt it's an ulnar nerve problem, especially given the lack of trauma. It's common for the arm to feel 'dead' as a reaction to the pain, though obviously a specific pattern of numbness would be a different matter.