Tennis elbow

[JimBobTTD]

I have been suffering from tennis elbow for about six months. I had a fall whilst out roller-skiing in late August. I landed with my full weight on my right elbow on concrete...with elbow protection, but all that meant was that I did not scratch the skin! Anyway, after numerous trips to the doctor, X-rays, MRI etc I have been diagnosed with tennis elbow which was "probably always there" but manifested itself after the accident. I had cortisone shots in January which basically fixed it, but I travel a lot and, at times when out and about, I just cannot avoid carrying something with in my right hand. It has flared up again and I cannot play bass without it hurting.

There are some old threads on here about it, but any more tips on beating it, stories about how you had it, are over it, and are better now than ever before and all that jazz would be much appreciated.

Basically, I have just returned from a trip and have played bass for the first time in a couple of weeks and the pain is back with a vengeance. I have had to pull out of my band and I am feeling bummed out in a terrible way.

[Coilte]

As with all non bass related threads like this, IMO it is best to go back and seek the advice of your doctor or a physiotherapist. While other people may [i]seem[/i] to have a similar problem, everyone is different and what might be good for one, may not be the case for someone else.

You say the pain is back with a vengeance...then all the more reason to get it properly checked out.

Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. Hope you get it sorted.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Coilte

[MoonBassAlpha]

In the meantime (while you wait for an appointment) you could try an adjustable neoprene forearm tube. Tightening on the muscle below the elbow can relieve some of the pull on the ligaments.
You could also try turning your amp right up and play a lot softer with the right hand, maybe wearing the bass a bit lower and playing with a straighter arm could help too.

[JimBobTTD]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1486908963' post='3235402']
As with all non bass related threads like this, IMO it is best to go back and seek the advice of your doctor or a physiotherapist. While other people may [i]seem[/i] to have a similar problem, everyone is different and what might be good for one, may not be the case for someone else.

You say the pain is back with a vengeance...then all the more reason to get it properly checked out.

Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. Hope you get to sorted.
[/quote]

Fear not - I shall be booking a revisit to the doctor as soon as I can tomorrow. I know that this is tennis elbow and I know that this is something that a medical professional needs to help me solve.


[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1486914546' post='3235466']
In the meantime (while you wait for an appointment) you could try an adjustable neoprene forearm tube. Tightening on the muscle below the elbow can relieve some of the pull on the ligaments.
You could also try turning your amp right up and play a lot softer with the right hand, maybe wearing the bass a bit lower and playing with a straighter arm could help too.
[/quote]

Thanks - I have one of these from earlier. Part of the damage done in the fall was spraining my wrist (as I was, essentially, skiing on concrete, I had skiing sticks on my wrists and my right one was twisted when I fell). I shall put it back on.

Lowering the bass...that's a big ask! Nice suggestion...I shall see how it goes. Thanks!

[Bilbo]

Had this a few times. Takes up to two years to go. Just try not to aggravate it.

[JimBobTTD]

Two years! Oh God, no! I have been miserable these last six months.

Still, go it must. If it means two years, so be it.

[hubrad]

I have something 'like tennis elbow, but not exactly the same' according to my GP..
I notice that reach-twist-grip (bass playing) is the most exacerbating. Bizarrely, double bass doesn't have such a bad effect, so hand and arm position has a bearing on this. I've been consciously monitoring the effect of position, and on a 5-string, playing from 5th fret on B rather than open E is definitely less stressful.
Not yet tried the support things, but mean to do so.. there are some specific tennis elbow ones these days, with more particular pressure pads.

[josie]

Sympathy! I'm afraid it's a long slow business.

I hope you have a good GP - some are more sympathetic than others. Try to find a physio who works with musicians - mine has a bass player ex-boyfriend and totally understands that if my RSI is limiting my bass playing this is important and should be worked on.

I can only play with a pick - any wiggling of the fingers on my right hand triggers pain in the right elbow. So I just work with that. You might find it helps, although you might have to adapt your playing style.

Also, you may already be doing this, learn to do as much as you can with your left hand to take the strain off the right elbow. I found it surprisingly easy to use a computer mouse left-handed, and it helped a lot.

Very best wishes.

[ambient]

A woodwind player friend of mine suffers from a form of this peculiar to woodwind players, called tennis oboe.

Sorry for making light of your situation, only a friend told me that rather poor joke a few gays ago.

[bazzbass]

roller skating? really?

probably the worst thing a musician can do, broken wrists and elbows, shoulders.....

but you know this......now .

Joking aside, I also have tennis elbow , on my fretting arm, and a small scale bass eases the stretch the elbow makes on a full scale bass, I know yours is the plucking hand, but if you think about how you can lessen the angle it stays at, it might help, a longer strap so it hangs lower so your elbow is closer to straight?

sorry,that's all I have to offer.

[JimBobTTD]

Nah, not roller skating...roller skiing. It is cross-country skiing in warmer months. I was in the early stages of training for a race. Yes, I know...big mistake...won't be doing that again!

I shall make sure I get a physio who works with musicians. Thanks for the tips, folks!

[Bilbo]

Mine is always 'there', just needs managing. Flares up a little now and then. Part of growing older.

[Mykesbass]

The NHS Direct website has some good exercises that helped me. Still get twinges, but mine has got a lot better.

[Bigwan]

Get yourself a Vulkan Epi Brace to relieve the pain when using the arm (if you're on the border between 2 sizes go smaller rather than larger!), but other than the gentle exercises already mentioned, resting it is about all you can do in my experience.

I have it in both elbows - not sure how I got it in my left elbow (certainly wasn't from playing tennis!), but it was the pull start on my father's hedge trimmer that did my right elbow in...

[mikeycrikey]

I have had tennis elbow in both arms and agree it can be really debilitating, even holding a cup of tea was painful.
What worked for me was a combination of physio, massage and anti inflammatory tablets. It has now cleared on both arms. I have no pain playing bass or doing any lifting.
My advice is to get your doctor to recommend you for physio on your arm, they will show you the simple exercises you can do at home as well as the muscle massage you can also do.
It does take time but it will clear as long as you keep up with the exercises.
In the meantime anti inflammatory tablets and good elbow support will help.

[Monkey Steve]

I had this in both arms a few years ago - directly caused by lumping Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets up and down the stairs to my first floor flat every week. My doctor showed me a scan of my tendons and they were completely shredded.

I was referred to a doctor in Harley Street (thank's to BUPA) who was doing something a little experimental. They draw some blood and then inject it into the torn muscles and tendons which fools the body into thinking that it needs to repair the torn fibres. Not pleasant - the elbow hurt like hell for a few days afterwards, and given the severity of the problem (the doctor was seriously worried about his success rate as he'd never tired it on anything so severe before) I had to go back to get one of my elbows done a couple of times.

But they are now absolutely fine - avoided lifting the cabs for a few months and no problems since.

I don't know how widely available this is - I had to use a treatment code that the doctor gave me which got past the BUPA restrictions that may have applied if they viewed it as experimental (something like "injection using ultrasound" rather than "trying something new to fix busted tendons") but I would thoroughly recommend it.

A quick google shows me that it is Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment, and seems to be reasonably well known now, although Google also showed me an article telling me why I shouldn't have it done. This actually seems to be slightly different to what I had done - PRP sifts the blood and they only inject the stuff that is actually needed, whereas on me they simply drew it out of one arm and injected it straight into the other. Still, good to know I was a guinea pig for something that works.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Monkey Steve

[MoonBassAlpha]

That sounds along the same lines as proliferation therapy that I read about when mine was at its worst. I never had that though, nor Cortisone, just used arm supports and time.
Mine was caused by starting drumming, then made worse by playing squash.
The elbow is ok now, just wish the drumming and squash had improved at the same rate

Edited February 13, 2017 by MoonBassAlpha

[JimBobTTD]

As an update...nothing helped. Physiotherapy, cortisone, nothing.

I had surgery the day before yesterday. I have to wear a brace on my wrist for 4-6 weeks. I shall update when I have something else to say.

[mikeycrikey]

Best of Luck with your recovery from the surgery 

[fleabag]

Yup, been there.  Tennis first, then Golfers  ( golfers is the inside, in the exact opposite place to tennis ) then tennis returned again  -  30-Love

I'm thinking mine was nowhere near as bad as yours, but i had the anti-inflams and tramodol and solpadol, and he also told me to rest my arm somewhere, like along the arm of my sofa ( and sat down, as well ) so my arm was kinda parallel to floor but only the hand itself was in the air, hanging over the arm of the sofa.

Then, get a can of baked beans ( other food is available ) and hold the can, palm down, and do wrist raises. He did explain what this did, but whether it helped i dont know because in all 3 cases of T and G elbow i had, they cleared up after around 6 months

[Deep Thought]

8 hours ago, fleabag said:

Yup, been there.  Tennis first, then Golfers  ( golfers is the inside, in the exact opposite place to tennis ) then tennis returned again  -  30-Love

I'm thinking mine was nowhere near as bad as yours, but i had the anti-inflams and tramodol and solpadol, and he also told me to rest my arm somewhere, like along the arm of my sofa ( and sat down, as well ) so my arm was kinda parallel to floor but only the hand itself was in the air, hanging over the arm of the sofa.

Then, get a can of baked beans ( other food is available ) and hold the can, palm down, and do wrist raises. He did explain what this did, but whether it helped i dont know because in all 3 cases of T and G elbow i had, they cleared up after around 6 months

This is the exercise my physio gave me (I was told in the early stages to ‘help’ lift the weight with the other hand, and to lower it slowly on its own, until I had built up muscle strength). This, and forearm tendon stretching sorted my tennis elbow out, I had several months off work with it, but I found if I did this exercise first thing, it made a huge difference. It never bothers me now, but if I get a twinge some stretching does the trick.

[fleabag]

Thanks DT, yes i forgot about upward motion being helped by the other hand first then slowly lowering the baked beans ( other cans of food are available )  on their own.

 

[JimBobTTD]

I did that exercise too, but found that the exercises would be undone by holding a briefcase. 

Hand on heart, I am still not convinced what I had was tennis elbow. But with the surgery done, my focus is on getting better!

[DJpullchord]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you are you sure this is tennis elbow? Get a second opinion amigo.

Ive had tennis elbow in both arms for over ten years. Caused by repeated overuse of the forearm. Basically tensing the muscle for lengthy periods as a stonemason. Never had a problem playing guitar  as the forearm isn’t used (unless neck dive) but can be agony lifting a cup. I sometimes wear a strap (prrrrrrp) to restrict the use of muscle.

Im not saying you don’t have tennis elbow but I really would get a second opinion.

good luck!!!

 

[JimBobTTD]

I think tennis elbow is used as a catch-all term for nerve/tendon/muscle damage. 

As tennis elbow is RSI and mine was trauma, I didn’t believe that this is what I actually had. Still, it seems that some of the symptoms were shared. The surgeon cut out a knot of scar tissue and fiddled with some other bits. It already seems better.