this one pops up regularly in our sport. Trying to get rid of mine before the season kicks in.

what is the best way to recover, any recent developments / treatments.

I use Velcro wraps when I'm out sailing. They work great. Never had an issue since. I don't wear them when wearing a full wetsuit, but I do wear them when wearing a shorty and when in board shorts and shirtless. I have been wearing the same Velcro wraps for 7 yrs now and they are still in good shape.

I do bicep curls to help build the muscles up more. But the trick is to time it and do the curls 3-5 hrs before you go windsurfing so that your bicep muscles haven't had enough time to develop soreness yet and you can get a session on the water in before the muscle soreness kicks in from the weights. Or, do bicep curls, but you will be sore the next day and possibly the following day. I usually give my arms 2 days to recover from curls before I windsurf again. So unless you time it and windsurf 3-5 hrs or so after your curl workout, I'd give your arms that 2 day recovery.

If the wind is good and I may have a pretty good idea that my arms will be sore later that day and the wind is predicted to be good for the next 3 days or so and I have the time to make it on the water those days, I will make a protein shake within an hr after my session when I get home to help with muscle recovery. I actually take a protein shake as well right after my curl workout, to also help with Muscle recovery. The protein shakes work very well for windsurfing muscle recovery and workouts at the gym, plus the protein builds more muscle which equals more strength and more time on water. Does a body good!!!

You can get some relief using a Theraband Flexbar.


I used one of these for golfer's elbow. It gave some relief but it didn't seem to heal any faster.

Don't play tennis

Three things can help:

Rest, and avoiding windsurfing for a while.

Sail with a changed grip - for example, make yourself use an underhand grip if you normally go overhand on the boom.

Help the injury cure faster by massaging the inflamed area twice a day. You should actually press in on the most painful area, to encourage blood flow to that tendon connection point. Some say that acupuncture can also speed up recovery - but of course you'd have to pay for that.

I've had this myself and it's really bad if you are on a windsurfing holiday, wanting to get your full time on the water. But with rest and localised massage, it does go away.

Fishoil tablets cured my tennis elbow 6 years ago. Elbow is as good as a brought one and issue It hasn't returned.

+1 for Flexbar n frequent massaging the painful area.

Gel packs around elbow. Also, dig fingers in forearm and rotate your wrist to release tension on tendons.

Push your body into harness, fine tune your lines and harness settings.

More.... windsurfing.lepicture.com/tips-and-tricks/

Thanks for the tips, Ive ordered the flex bar and will try the other suggestions as well.

+ one for the Velcro strap, if worn tight and correctly it will push the tendons off their usual path. Clench your fist really tight as you tighten the Velcro .
RSI can be painful. Use to wear the Velcro strap when I was 14, not sure why I had tennis elbow then?? But I did play squash....maybe that was the cause?

This:




And if it doesn't help get your GP to give you a cortisone injection

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lotofwind said..
+ one for the Velcro strap, if worn tight and correctly it will push the tendons off their usual path. Clench your fist really tight as you tighten the Velcro .
RSI can be painful. Use to wear the Velcro strap when I was 14, not sure why I had tennis elbow then?? But I did play squash....maybe that was the cause?

Gee thats a no brainer at 14!!! We all suspect its still a daily occurence even now!!

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lotofwind said..
+ one for the Velcro strap, if worn tight and correctly it will push the tendons off their usual path. Clench your fist really tight as you tighten the Velcro .
RSI can be painful. Use to wear the Velcro strap when I was 14, not sure why I had tennis elbow then?? But I did play squash....maybe that was the cause?

Hahahahahahah you're so witty and intelligent, love your comments

Thank you

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lotofwind said..
Thank you

Hahahahhahahah, you're so witty and intelligent, love your comments

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ka43 said..

lotofwind said..
+ one for the Velcro strap, if worn tight and correctly it will push the tendons off their usual path. Clench your fist really tight as you tighten the Velcro .
RSI can be painful. Use to wear the Velcro strap when I was 14, not sure why I had tennis elbow then?? But I did play squash....maybe that was the cause?

Gee thats a no brainer at 14!!! We all suspect its still a daily occurence even now!!

Yeah, it is, but now I have to wear a Velcro strap on both arms.


Orange whip, what do you think?

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lotofwind said..

ka43 said..

lotofwind said..
+ one for the Velcro strap, if worn tight and correctly it will push the tendons off their usual path. Clench your fist really tight as you tighten the Velcro .
RSI can be painful. Use to wear the Velcro strap when I was 14, not sure why I had tennis elbow then?? But I did play squash....maybe that was the cause?

Gee thats a no brainer at 14!!! We all suspect its still a daily occurence even now!!

Yeah, it is, but now I have to wear a Velcro strap on both arms.

Hahahahahahhahahaha you are so witty and intelligent, love your comments

Flexbar worked great for me, and a few other people I know. I had tennis elbow for a year before I discovered the flex bar, and then it was gone in 3 days. When they did a clinical study to compare the flex bar to conventional treatment, they cut is short because the results with the flex bar were so much better.

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Basher said..
Sail with a changed grip - for example, make yourself use an underhand grip if you normally go overhand on the boom.

Another good one. I had tennis elbow on just one side. I later noticed that it's the same side I use an underhand grip on - I only use overhand grip on the other side. Now, when I start feeling my tendons acting up a bit while sailing, I switch to overhand grip, and don't really have problems anymore. Before I did this, I'd need to use the flexbar a few days every couple of months or so.

I've tried most of the above and if you really have torn/split your tendon (tennis elbow) none will fix it.
Go see a Doctor, get a referral to a Sports Doctor. They might then do PRP therapy and shock treatment. It will fix it but you will still be prone to it reoccurring .
Fixed mine

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P.C_simpson said..
Don't play tennis

This is actually very true, I used to play quite often during my early years of w'surfing, and I would become inflicted with it. The two sports ask opposite things of your elbow, tennis with it's extension, and w'surfing with it's bent arm flex, I knew it was a bad combo.
I quit tennis, kind of burned out on it anyway, and the tennis elbow went away, never to return.

I had tendinitis in my shoulder through windsurfing. It was my front arm when landing jumps. I changed to underhand grip and it went away. I still go back to overhand before gybing though.

Long harness lines, 30 inches or longer, are a good therapeutic and preventative measure.

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Tasdoc said..
This:




And if it doesn't help get your GP to give you a cortisone injection

That arm band works really well to help relieve pain. Along with wrist stretches and wrist strength exercises. A lot of the cause is from weak forearms.
also take up golf, cortisone is for pussies

My physio showed me how to do exercises called radial glides. They relieve the nerve problems, in particular the large nerve that runs down from the neck to the hand. Cheap and easy. I have heard some say that acupuncture solved their problems, but I would in general totally avoid the use of steroids. They offer a quick fix but in the long term you will suffer for it...a bandaid at best.

More downhaul works wonders too!

To add onto releasing tension by digging fingers into the forearm muscles leading to the tendon trick, it cured my tendinitis almost instantly. I was shocked, gotta love YouTube!

Ice is excellent too, worked well on forearms and shoulders.

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MarkSSC said..
My physio showed me how to do exercises called radial glides. They relieve the nerve problems, in particular the large nerve that runs down from the neck to the hand. Cheap and easy. I have heard some say that acupuncture solved their problems, but I would in general totally avoid the use of steroids. They offer a quick fix but in the long term you will suffer for it...a bandaid at best.

Funny, I guess everyone has different experiences with this. I had tennis elbow pretty bad for about 8 months. In that time I must have tried nearly every treatment possible. Osteo, physio, chiro, chinese accupuncture, dry needling (physio & osteo), naturopath, massage etc etc. In addition to costing me sh!te loads of money, none of this worked. Three weeks out from a trip to Maui, in desperation I got a shot of cortisone. Within a couple of days the pain was gone and I had an awesome trip, sailing 4 hours daily for 12 days straight. That was just over four years ago and the pain hasn't come back. Pretty good bandaid....

I got my Theraband and I'm twisting away. Will get the Velcro strap tomorrow and have my GF on the massage routine.

I asked my nephew (a professional tennis player) what he does for tennis elbow. He says he's never had it, bastard!!! But I guess being young and fit does help.

I was speaking to my niece today who said she's had it from paddling a surf ski. Her physio examined her paddling style and recommended a slight angle change which cured the problem. Again being young and fit helps a lot. She's competing in the Coolangatta Gold this weekend.