Hey guys about a year ago I was taking a BJJ class near my home and basically got arm-barred really bad and did not tap in time, hyperextending my elbow. Ever since then the injury has not healed and Ive had really bad medial epicondylitis a.k.a golfers elbow because of it. I went to a Sports doctor for some help and she assigned physical therapy for it. Well, I did that for about 5 months and there was some success, but once we tried to do more extreme exercises like push-ups, it got worse all over again. Cortisone shots do not work either. I just tried PRP Therapy but it seems to not be working either.
Golfer's Elbow bands do not help it, Im at wit end for a fix for this. Its extremely painful. It hurts in almost everything I do, is there any suggestion you guys can give me on what I should do?
I developed tendinitis several years ago from an old gymnastics injury. There were some days I couldn't even pick up a glass of water, it was that painful. I did some physical therapy on it, but like you, it just didn't seem to help. Under the approval of my Minneapolis doctors, I finally just stopped using my arm as much as possible for about a year. I would wrap my elbow daily to keep it from extending. Luckily the injury was to my left arm, and I am right handed, so I was still able to do a lot. This was about 2 years ago, and I haven't had nearly the problems with it like I did in the past.
Last edited by maynu; 08-25-2011 at 08:53 AM.
It looks like you have done the right things so far. Typically, the first step of an epicondylitis treatment is rest. In severe cases like yours sounds like, a cast may be necessary to insure rest.
A word of caution about "Golfers Ellbow Bands". For them to work right, you have to make sure they are worn right and don't move. That's hard to accomplish when doing BJJ... Alternatively, you can also use strips of athletic tape. Have a physical therapist show you how to apply that right. Over the tape I would wear one of those neoprene elbow sleves, just to makes sure the tape stays in place.
If rest and injections of cortisone and/or local anesthetics also showed no result, you may have to start getting comfortable with the thought of surgery. Epicondylitis can be treated by disconnecting some of the muscle tendon from the humerus' epicondylus (that's where the name of the injury stems from) and potentially manipulating some of the nerves in the region as well.
Before you go down that road, I would reassess all the methods of conservative and non-surgical therapy you have gone through so far though as surgery is invasive... maybe try diligent rest combined with long term physical therapy again.
Good luck.
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Combat Athletes & Sports Health
I also have tendentious from an arm-bar hyper extension. This may sound crazy but when it starts to flare up I eat beef liver for lunch for a few days and it go's away no problem. If I don't I'm out of the gym for at least a week.
Wrap it and be careful not to aggravate it by banging it. Take ibuprofen twice a day and do alternate hot and cold therapy five minutes hot followed by five minutes cold for three to five cycles of each. Of course you should also consult your physician.
The best thing that I have done for my tendonitis is a compression sleeve. It got to the point where I could not even grip my opponents collar and I would have to tap out while they are in my guard. I used a compression sleeve with a support strap for about a month and it is like I never had it.
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