[happy larry]

Any other members suffer with golfers elbow,after a couple of courses of anti inflammatorys no relief was given.Back to see the Dr in december for a steroid injection brilliant,after about 4 hours i could feel the effects.Well i had heard horror stories of the pain during the treatment but i didnt feel a thing,anyway i had 4 months pain free then around april time my elbow started niggeling again gradually getting worse even to the point of not being able to dry my arm after a shower.Well enough was enough last sunday i decided to book an appointment with the Dr for tues afternoon,well i tells the Dr its more painful than last time,so Dr examines my elbow and pressed on a very tender spot i whinced and said a few bloody hells Dr decides to treat this area,a very thin bony part of my elbow, jesus christ i was in agony as the needle went in it was like a red hot poker burning into the bone.I uttered more than a few bloody hells this time,well i went home and as the time went on it was getting more painful with the slightest thing making me irritable,well i went to bed around midnight and had a bad nights sleep i was in agony.Well on the weds morning i though my arm was on fire and it was throbbing like an abscess under a tooth,i phoned the surgery to tell them my situation receptionist has a word with the Dr who says it could take a few days to settle down,thankfuly im on the mend and i should be able to tie my shoe laces in the morning.

[little blue]

is it different from tennis elbow??!
my friend has this, says its the worst pain, just started physio after being signed off work to rest it.

hope you feel better soon....

[Sandy]

I can sympathise, I get a problem with my shoulder and if I carry ANYTHING I suffer. I was dieting and only eat salad, fruit, veg, chicken and fish and hardly any bread and when we had a takeaway of a Chinese, I was in agony and stiff so food and the weather have a big effect...IF  I were to eat a tub of pringles tonight, I guarantee I would suffer tomorrow!!! Try watching what food you eat when its bad!!!!!

[Norfolk Newby]

Please don't think I am relating these suggestions to anyone in great pain however, for anyone with minor sore joints wrapping up very well so that you are really really warm can help a lot. If I get a sore back from lifting stuff, I sleep with a jumper over my pyjamas under a thick duvet. I sweat a lot but in the morning, the pain is much less, usually all gone.

On another theme, my wife suffers with arthritis in her hands and arms and find eating pineapple helps a lot. The are other foods which aggravate this problem and some which reduce it.

For those of you needing an operation or steroid injections, I sympathise greatly and hope all goes well. For the rest of us, these tricks might help.

[lachlanandmarcus]

For arthritic hands like mine I find wearing the latex gloves whenever it is cold or wet really helps, they are so thin you can still feel exactly what you are doing unlike normal gloves.

Which wont help a bad elbow but might help some peeps!

I can think a painful elbow would be very nasty, it is agony if you just bump your elbow so cant imagine if it hurt all the time.....hope it gets better very soon!

[faith0504]

oh i sympathies with you i have suffered with tennis elbow for years, i always have anti-inflamatories in the house and i find elbow supports help, the weather does effect it, i can always tell when the weather is changing,

Hope you feel better soon 

[suziequeue]

Ouch . I had tennis elbow a couple of years ago after I took up using a chain saw. It was agony and I couldn't lift anything. It seemed to affect everything I did - so demoralising.

The physio was really good and explained that my tennis elbow had arisen partly from the unexpected activity but also from an imbalance between the forearm flexors and extensors so that as well as stretching the muscles I needed to strengthen the "other side" muscles as well. I used theraband.

It cleared up quite quickly after that..... but I haven't used the chain saw with such intensity after that.

Hope it clears up quickly.

[Sudanpan]

Golfers elbow and tennis elbow are the same mechanism of injury, but are to different muscle attachments on the elbow depending on whether the trauma is to the extensors (tennis) or flexors (golfers). The majority of the problem is because the muscles come together to have a common attachment area on the bone so alot of stress is concentrated on a relatively small area.
Anti-inflammatories are often prescribed, you can also help with icing the area (10 mins, not directly onto the skin but through a wet towel). The other thing that can help is the use of a strapping band that is put on the forearm just below the elbow - it can help by reducing the pull from the muscles concerned onto the traumatised attachment area, because the strap acts like a false insertion.
If you can I would also recommend manual therapy to help the overworked tissues - I'm an osteopath so would obviously recommend osteopathy, but also physiotherapy or similar therapies.
Good luck 
Tish

[princesspiggy]

my tennis elbow took 9 mths to heal, a real pest when u want to get work done outside!
sympathies xx 

[little blue]

thanks Tish ... I play neither golf nor tennis, so wasn't sure! 

[happy larry]

Thanks to all that posted best wishes etc,im on the mend now.The initial effects from the injection started to ease off on friday evening, not gone completeley but its bearable.The original sore and swollen area is still hard and sore so no real relief from the jab yet giging it a few more days then back to see the Dr.

sudanpan,i got more info from your post than i did from the Dr,i am going to give ibuleve a go plus the strapping band.