# Never ending tendonitis very frustrating



## Yetna (Jul 2, 2013)

Hey bros I'm 6"1 195lbs. I've been lifting weights a couple of years now. Whenever I work biceps my left arm is sore as shit at the elbow. I recently laid off of it for a month and a half, and thought it should be healed. I went to the gym today and worked bis and once again soreness starts creeping up. I feel I could have much bigger arms if this wasn't in my way. What can I do?


----------



## murf23 (Jul 2, 2013)

I also have very severe tendonitis among many other injuries and the only advice I can give is to work around your injuries . Only other option is to not train and that is not an option . Goo luck and maybe your case is not as severe as mine and rehabilitation is an option for you . Good luck bro


----------



## Curt James (Jul 2, 2013)

^^^^ Agreed.

Have you gone to your doctor? Can you work triceps without pain?

Stop training your left biceps for three months. Working the right biceps may help maintain your left biceps. Sounds like crazy talk but I thought I saw somewhere that training the uninjured limb can keep the injured limb from atrophying significantly. And, fwiw, your triceps are what's responsible for your arms looking big.

Wishing you a full recovery.


----------



## TGB1987 (Jul 2, 2013)

Try out a product called E-Pharm Joint Force.  This product has been priceless for my tendonitis issues and really works in a way no other product I have come across does.  It is made by Patrick Arnold's company so that should make you feel a little more secure about investing in a bottle.


----------



## sassy69 (Jul 3, 2013)

Forearm tendonitis was the first I ever experienced - back in 1992. Since then I've also got all sorts of fun w/ wrist & elbow and even more at the insertion points. It flairs and settles, but never really seems to have "healed". The thing is that you've started establishing a compromise in that joint, probably just from a combination of stress to the joint as well as simply repetitive motion. I'm going to check out the E-Pharm stuff as well, but the anti-inflammatories aren't going to make it "heal" because the environment you developed it in isn't going to change if you plan on being a lifetime lifter. As you start start to experience the isolated points of wear & tear, I'd recommend that you start to incorporate a few stretches into your program to warm up those smaller joints. Over time the same can happen at different connection points to the same area - like I mentioned - wrist, forearm insertion point, elbow - "inside" and "outside" (tennis elbow / golfer's elbow), bicep and tricep insertions to the elbow joint as well as so all the connectors into your shoulder / rotator. Expect it. When you hit 40-45 it will be there for sure. I'm 47 - currently I have no real issues in the big muscles, but the little muscles around all the little joints, including all the way up my arms, as well as my ankles and into my feet (plantar fasciitis) - I can literally feel the tightness if I twist or stretch these. Its essentially the same as getting a knot in your back or any of the big muscles, except its in the little muscles that we take for granted, don't explicitly stretch and bear the brunt of the repetitive motion stuff that is inherent in weight lifting 

Here are some stretches I'd recommend you incorporate - even a few - but the consistency is what will save you over the years. 

Google

If that link doesn't work for you, I just googled "youtube elbow tendonitis stretching exercises".

Ask any powerlifter or Oly guy or MMA guy about how important the stretches are....


----------



## IronAddict (Jul 3, 2013)

Just one of the many ailments every bodybuilder/weightlifter goes through. Over time you'll aggravate your tendons with those heavy loads, the only thing i've found that works a 100% is rest.

I know it's hard to rest and not do anything, but as Murph says, work around it. You're probably working arms too much or too heavy anyway. Don't do Bi's for awhile, as hard as you're working those, put that same effort into legs or calves or some other part of your body that you feel is lacking.


----------



## Curt James (Jul 3, 2013)

sassy69 said:


> Forearm tendonitis was the first I ever experienced - back in 1992.



I worked at a bindery in 1996 and moving the paper by hand was a lot quicker than using their cranes. We'd throw the sigs on the conveyor belt and just keep on moving, 13-hour days. Developed tennis elbow or what the doctor called epicondylitis.

Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis) -OrthoInfo - AAOS

Physical therapy and rest helped. What I thought was _fixed_. Was doing barbell cleans and found out soon enough that nothing is ever fixed, it's just temporarily healed. lol Not messing with cleans ever again.


----------



## PushAndPull (Jul 3, 2013)

I've had the same thing for a while now and it's finally going away. Extra rest helped a lot but these types of injuries can last a long time, so I wasn't going to just wait untill it went away completely. I altered my training routine so that I had no isolation exercises for the biceps and did not go heavy on upper body pulling movements. It still aggravated it but not to the point where I needed anything for the pain. It was just enough pain/discomfort to let me know that it was still there and that I still needed to take it easy. It's almost completely gone now, but it's also been a good 4-5 months since it started. So be patient, because it's doubtful it will be gone anytime soon.


----------



## Bowden (Jul 4, 2013)

What arm/forearm exercises are you doing?
How much weight are you using on each exercise?


----------



## Bowden (Jul 6, 2013)

The reason that I asked that question above is that sometimes you can get elbow tendonitis if you do not rotate arm and forearm exercises, volume and weight.
Good luck with your issue.


----------



## flood (Aug 16, 2013)

A Thai Dr determined I have golfer's elbow. I can curl, but hurts to pick up a coffee pot.
When I was diagnosed with a hernia I quit the gym for 3 months. It went away.

The surgeon said 'go ahead' and lift until the hernia gets worse - so I did! Elbow came back.
I take Osteo Bi-Flex with gelatin to support collagen production. MSM, Chondroitin, may help a bit. I found CetylPure and it seems to flare up less.


----------



## OTG85 (Aug 17, 2013)

I have the same issues in both elbows and knees.I just wrap the shit out of them and still lift heavy.I use a lot of Icy hott and Ice them down if too sore.Seems to help with the pain.


----------



## RoidsR4m3 (Aug 18, 2013)

Unfortunately for me, I recently ran into this same issue with my right elbow. Rest, rest and more rest seem to be the cure. I was so desperate to lift again that I almost found my self in front of the doctor asking for a cortisol injection. After time away from the gym and a rigorous supplement regimen w/Alflutop, my tennis elbow seemed to go away. I however right now don't lift heavy and still wrap my elbow just for precaution. Also, Penetrex seems to do awesome right after a workout.


----------



## poppa_cracker (Aug 18, 2013)

go  see  a  pt  or  other  clinician  who  does  active  release  therapy  or graston  therapy,  they work  wonders


----------



## Intense (Aug 18, 2013)

What worked for me was find out which exercises are really aggravating it.(In my case, skullcrushers/heavy dips) 

Then I would find the best stretches for that area and really warm up good before going heavy on triceps. I read somewhere that negatives with light weight can help heal the tendon but who knows. All these things combined have mine healed, and I can now can go heavy on skullcrushers and dips without problems usually.


----------



## flood (Dec 3, 2013)

I may need to do that. 

Now on 4th week no lifitng.  Gettin' better slowly.

Trying the Joint Force stuff, just ordered. I'd like to do it naturally with rest. Even trying tart cherry juice along with the usual joint supp regimen.


----------



## KelJu (Dec 3, 2013)

Fucking elbows! I got the same issue as you, however, mine is so bad that it hurts to pull-up, chip-up, row, and military press. I am on 3 weeks of a rest, and it still hurts as bad today as it did 3 weeks ago. FUCK ELBOWS!


----------



## Big Puppy (Dec 3, 2013)

I experienced the same thing, golfers elbow.  I didn't do back or biceps for 3 months.  This is what I ended up doing:

1.  ART therapy.  Most of us don't stretch much. We lift chest, chest, and between the other muscles, chest.  My chest was too tight. That pulls your shoulders forward.  Also my traps were tight. That pulls the shoulders up.  This creates a condition where it stresses the whole biceps chain "shortening" those tendons.  You need to stretch chest and traps to lengthen the area.  The tendons won't be so short and therefore being stressed all the time.  Deep tissue and daily stretching helped fix my problem.  I still daily stretch my chest and have not had it flare up for 2+ years.

2. I also incorporated igf-lr3.  From what I've read, there are a lot of receptors in connective tissue.  I think it helped repair the area.

Through this protocol, I could feel a significant difference after 2 1/2 weeks.

Fwiw it worked for me.


----------



## BIGBEN2011 (Dec 4, 2013)

igf-lr3 is what you need while on this my dr put together arm is 100% pain free. while off of igf I can not train my right arm from the pain. i am hooked on igf-lr3 like a crack head.


----------



## moodyman1 (Dec 4, 2013)

D-e-c-a


----------



## jay_steel (Dec 4, 2013)

there is stuff made for horses you can get from the feed store i was just talking to a powerlifter about. He says it taste like shit but its powerful enough for horses joints and ligs/tends that it blows us away. I have also used stuff that is injectable that is like WOW instant relief but adding pinning sucks. 

Ice everyday take motrin and do your best to remove the inflammation. I wrap my elbows because triceps get really painful at 8% or lower bf. To the point where I cant train them. Keep your joints warm. Properly warm up, look into preexhuast workouts with light weight to reduce the heavy load later on.


----------



## ctr10 (Dec 4, 2013)

I think everyone experiences some elbow pain now and then, you figure almost anything you do: curl,bench,shoulder press, tricep ext. and even back movements you involve the elbows-when mine flare I go light on movements that bother it, and I'm 51 and still chugging along


----------



## Vandammit (Dec 4, 2013)

I hear you brother,

I have had the tendonitis explore my wrists, elbows, forearms and now my feet after years of training..

Strangely enough they all seemed to correct itself. I did explore homeopathic remedies from a health food store that really helped..

Also if you have heard of Yoga Toes.. they worked wonders for my foot pain.. Not sure if it will help.

Dont laugh , the yoga toes worked..


----------



## flood (Dec 13, 2013)

Been using Joint Force for a few days now.
Pain is less but I don't know for sure if it's from laying off lifting heavy or from the Joint Force.

I've only done light upper body work with low volume twice in going on 2 months months.

Anybody have links so I can research igf-lr3?


----------



## sassy69 (Dec 13, 2013)

jay_steel said:


> *there is stuff made for horses you can get from the feed store i was just talking to a powerlifter about. He says it taste like shit but its powerful enough for horses joints and ligs/tends that it blows us away*. I have also used stuff that is injectable that is like WOW instant relief but adding pinning sucks.
> 
> Ice everyday take motrin and do your best to remove the inflammation. I wrap my elbows because triceps get really painful at 8% or lower bf. To the point where I cant train them. Keep your joints warm. Properly warm up, look into preexhuast workouts with light weight to reduce the heavy load later on.



Probably MSM powder.

In addition to time off, icing, and the usual immediate pain treatment stuff, I would also include some good stretching. Ultimately tendonitis, particularly in the arms, is a combination of repetitive motion and muscles that get tight, continue to get tight and just suffer from continued inflammation. And it just gets worse as you get older and your body can't recover from the tight muscles as readily.  Definitely recommend good warm ups:

Fast Facts About Bursitis and Tendinitis

Tendonitis Fact Sheet | Muscle & Strength

Tendonitis - NHS Choices


----------



## hypo_glycemic (Dec 13, 2013)

DMSO ..but it only masks it.. Rub on forearms. I used it on my knees when I played football in college..Get kind of a garlic taste in your mouth from it .. Used that and MSN for acute tendinitis..


----------



## BB's Dad (Dec 27, 2013)

Same thing here with bicep tendon causes pain all the way to shoulder. It was my left one last year but I heard and felt that one go. All I did was work my left arm like it was hurt lower weight and more reps and it took about 8 months to get completely better. But now my right is hurting so doing the same thing can't stay out of the gym to old will turn into a fat old man. I do inject prop in biceps hoping it will help. It seems that if you are on test at an older age the muscles do get stronger and bigger but the joints, tendons and connective tissue is still and week. I do run Deca twice a year and if the timing is right it does help the pain of the injuries. I do use DMSO also but I put some TNE in it. 



  The great thing about TRT is the cycle never ends.


----------



## antigravity (Dec 30, 2013)

Sounds like you have the same issue as I.  At night, my bis are literally numb after 13 years of consistent lifting.  Right now, no more pain.  Easy off the heavy curls, and focus on a decent amount of weight fully contracting the muscle for 2-3 seconds to really establish the mind muscle connection...If you have girlfriend/wife/mistress/mom/grandma...ask her to give you a deep tissue massage around the inflamed tendinitis area consecutively for a couple of days and STRECH!!!


----------



## HamHands (Jan 6, 2014)

Rest, ice, stretches, and (Meloxicam, a prescription only, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication); works wonders for me whenever an elbow or knee flare up happens (usually once a year or so). A medium to medium high dose of a Prednisone prescription for 10-14 days, along with rest, ice, compression, etc... is my go to when things get really bad tendon wise. Talk to your doctor OP if you haven't already...


----------



## KelJu (Jan 6, 2014)

I have been hitting it hard in the gym, but threw out everything that aggravates the issue. This seems have helped. Chin-ups replaced pullups. Standing cable row replaced t-bar row and bent-over row. No curls at all, and all of my pulling movements are slow and controlled. Now, it hardly even bothers me. 

Lifting smart might be the best solution i think.


----------



## flood (Jan 12, 2014)

Was doing an anti-inflammatory diet program; The Abascal Way. It probably works great for people who need to get off McDonalds and pizza pockets, but I've eaten whole food for decades. Hasn't helped but honestly I didn't give it a full try... BECAUSE;

My TRT doc said to try eliminating food from the nightshade family. So I'm eliminating red peppers, tomato, potato, paprika, egg plant, hot peppers. Seems to be easing up after re-flaring finally. I did chest last night and it still a bit better. Been skipping these foods for 4 days but it takes a lot longer - I've read. So still not sure yet.


----------



## robono (Jan 13, 2014)

I feel ur pain bro, I got burcitis in my shoulders...some days worse than others.but I agree, whith he streching helps theory


----------



## NoviceAAS (Jan 13, 2014)

A huge help with tendonitis is Tuemeric !!!!   Yes thats right the cooking spice, which is also available in pill/ capsule form . It takes a couple of weeks to help, and it can give some people heart burn, but I think you'll find it works great .   1200 - 1500 mg a day !


----------



## Joey Zasa (Jan 13, 2014)

we all have gone through this especially new lifters or lifters who improve rapidly ........if you continue to pound away your injury can become chronic. inflammation is your body attempting to heal itself up.  work around the injury.. also I hope you aren't using gloves and straps as those can cause an imbalance and weaken your tendons and ligaments


----------



## rzrbak (Jan 13, 2014)

PushAndPull said:


> I've had the same thing for a while now and it's finally going away. Extra rest helped a lot but these types of injuries can last a long time, so I wasn't going to just wait untill it went away completely. I altered my training routine so that I had no isolation exercises for the biceps and did not go heavy on upper body pulling movements. It still aggravated it but not to the point where I needed anything for the pain. It was just enough pain/discomfort to let me know that it was still there and that I still needed to take it easy. It's almost completely gone now, but it's also been a good 4-5 months since it started. So be patient, because it's doubtful it will be gone anytime soon.



Have the same problem on my bicep right now for the last two+ months.  Great advice above.  I stopped doing isolation exercises on my biceps and have just let my back exercises (which work your biceps as a side) keep me up.  Pain has gotten much better.  Only feel a little after back day and it continues to be less and less.  Before I couldn't flex or straighten my arm without a sting of pain.


----------



## johnnovelty (Jan 14, 2014)

I had the after barbell curls. I moved to doing ez bar curls and it resolved. The immense forearm pain was due to the rotation. 

Now if the skullcrushers didn't kill my elbows...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## chocolatemalt (Jan 15, 2014)

I've tried icing and ibuprofen (800mg 4x/day) with limited improvement on elbow tendonitis.  What helped the most was tennis ball therapy -- 5 mins with a ball against a wall, push the painful part of your elbow (or whatever) into the ball, roll it around, grimace at the pain but keep at it every day for several weeks.  This seems to break up scar tissue and establish new blood flow for help with healing and reducing inflammation.  That's the theory anyway.

A friend (doc) had access to a "cold laser" to treat her own tendonitis and it seems to work nicely as well, same tissue break-up theory as with the tennis ball.  I haven't had the luck to try it myself though.


----------



## flood (Jan 29, 2014)

Update on my experience so far. Eliminating nightshades has helped but not eliminated the pain. I've also refrained from going to the gym, so there's the rest angle too. I read a study that found Turmeric does help and that it helps a LOT more with pepper - ground black pepper. Turmeric, Like NoviceAAS recommended.


----------



## NoviceAAS (Jan 29, 2014)

Hey glad to help bud !!!!


----------



## flood (Feb 12, 2014)

Update: Back to lifting, pain still almost gone. Lifting lighter but much slower. Good pump and DOMS finally!

　

Still eliminating Nightshades and Wheat.

Still eating Tumeric & Black Pepper, MSM, Chondroitin, Olive & Fish Oils, Pineapple.

Ordered new supps after reading Pubmed.org studies etc...;

Lesser Galangal

Quesrcetin & Bromelain

Hyaluronic Acid -reordered more


----------



## irish1987 (Feb 12, 2014)

I get it in my right forearm.  Ive had it come up before and go away. Did arms last night and decided to lay off any bar curls and do strictly db's for a while at lighter weights. It didnt seem to be too bad last night.  

Sent from my SCH-R760X using Tapatalk


----------



## sneedham (Feb 12, 2014)

I believe someone mentioned this in the thread. I have been focusing on stretching it as much as possible and it is feeling the best it has in 6 month's......

This Message Was Sent By ME!!!!!


----------



## vassille (Feb 12, 2014)

flood said:


> Update: Back to lifting, pain still almost gone. Lifting lighter but much slower. Good pump and DOMS finally!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I can vouch for the wheat, been wheat free for almost 2 years and what a difference. Dont get me wrong I still have the normal aches and pains but inflamation is gone.


----------



## kfiggy (Feb 12, 2014)

I actually just had to deal with this, I had tendonitis in both elbows and got in the  way of a lot of my lifting.  I tried all the supplements, glucosamine, msm, etc.. I  even stopped doing biceps for a month and it still hurt.  At that point I used tennis elbow straps which did provide some relief but the pain still nagged on.  One day my friend and his girl came over and I was bitching about the pain, his girl said she could fix it and gave an extremely deep massage to my forearms.  This is not the type of massage that relaxes or makes you feel good, it is down right painful and you need to hang in and take it for as long as you could.  After the massage I was able to move my arms without feeling any discomfort.  She recommended a massage therapist and I went to check it out.  The massage I received this time was even more painful, my forearms were actually swollen after but 2 days later they felt great.  He even showed me how to do it on my own and now I have my wife do the massage for me and my tendonitis is now gone.  My recommendation is to find a good massage therapist and have them work out all of the knots, it was the only thing that actually worked for me.


----------



## AlphaStrength50 (Feb 12, 2014)

damn hopeu feel better bro

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk


----------



## flood (Feb 24, 2014)

Check this;http://tendinosis.org/injury.shtml


----------



## flood (Mar 8, 2014)

UPDATE; After realizing I didn't have arthritis or tendonitis I started to study tendinosis. The site tendinosis.org made me think... I need to get collagen and all the supps I take to push into tendons and ligaments' collagen matrix etc. Then I came across  Blood Flow Restricted training, or Occlusion Training which was supposed to allow hypertrophy with less weight. First I figured the lower weight would let my elbows heal while still giving them the resistance work they needed as they healed - AND hypertrophy too. After a pull day my elbows flared up. The next day they were still sore so I said screw it and tried BFR after I had read many studies on pubmed and plosone etc... MY JOINTS FELT BETTER WHEN DONE --- NOT WORSE LIKE THEY USUALLY DO ON BICEPS DAY! Pump was great too btw. They flared up again after the going to the gym 1 day later, so I put the straps on my biceps and did forearms. 80% pain free right away. I have no idea if this is psychosomatic or what, just passing on my experience. And did I mention great forearm pump too?    ***search; Blood Flow Restricted training, or Occlusion Training


----------

