I have developed tendonitis in the tendon that joins the bicep to the forearm in both arms. Has anyone had this before and successfully treated it?

Rest , pain killers , massage & keep your hand off it

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John340 said..

I have developed tendonitis in the tendon that joins the bicep to the forearm in both arms. Has anyone had this before and successfully treated it?

I had tennis elbow (not from tennis), similar area, essentially it's tendonitis. I had it for 6 months, took a while to heal as you have to carry on using your arms. What are you doing that is causing it? What helped me, is icing, wearing a compression bandage, anti-inflammatories when it got really bad and then doing some strengthening exercises in the gym & pool. You also need to figure out what's causing it and stop or alter that activity.

I have "tennis elbow" (on the "outside" of the elbow as opposed to the inside - ie the part you would use to king hit someone from windsurfing. Predominantly on my left elbow, but I can feel it on the right as well.

So far, my treatment has involved the following;

- First and foremost, it is to do with your stance / technique. Cribby's course has gotten me to improve on that. Harness line position 1/3 of the way (Search Guy Cribb Cribb Sheet).

- Stretches through the day - arm straight out in front, palm points down bent at the wrist. Then use non affected hand to pull your knuckles in towards your chest. For 60 seconds then slowly release

- Tennis Elbow compression band available from pharmacist.

- Thera Band Flexbar - google it. Can be bought in Australia for about $30.

- Ostheo Therapist which I trust (though first time I've seen him, but whole family's been going for years). He says - DO NOT rely on anti-inflammatory, don't do the cordosone (sp) injections, don't waste money on ultrasound/MRI - unless correct exercises do not work for 4 weeks. Reason being, if you want to continue your sport, you need to manage the injury, and build up strength in that weakness - not mask it with drugs.

Here's a link to an article on "tennis elbow" on a website that I found a few months back.

www.painscience.com/articles/tennis-elbow.php

You may find the contents of the article worth investigating.

I've found that the whole website addresses many areas of "injury treatment" where you become the sole practitioner of your own remediation.

It highlights "trigger points" or "perfect spots" or "muscle knots" in certain muscles where the muscle to be treated is not exactly where the pain is felt.

Worth checking out.

Cheers

google search it and try to find some weight exercise to help fix it. I had tendonitis in the shoulders and doing some light weights 5kg, shoulder rotation fixed it up. Seems to be a short straw crap body. Learn how to live with it. Sort of problem.

Cheers
Graeme

I have googled lower bicep tendonitis and have found some good info re stretches and strength exercises which I will try. I will also look at shortening my harness ropes to reduce the strain on the bicep.
thanks for the help

Seek professional help. Physiotherapy would be my first point of call, get an accurate diagnosis - may require ultrasound if symptoms and clinical picture is not clear. Most teninopathies are treatable without the need for steroid injections.

And for the guys with tennis elbow self managing - a physio can, in most cases, treat this to full resolution in 6 weeks or less.

John you are in brissie - send me a PM and I will let you know of a good physio in your area - I don't give advice over the net or phone for professional reasons.

"edit"
shortening your lines may do nothing apart from making you sail poorly. How do you know that sailing is the resin you have pain?

Shortening your harness lines and now putting the arm into more of a curl seems a contraction to lessening the load on a bicep?

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Milsy said..

Shortening your harness lines and now putting the arm into more of a curl seems a contraction to lessening the load on a bicep?

Nah Milsy - elbow angle won't actually change the load through the biceps tendon in a positive way. A muscle in its inner range (shortened) is weaker, and tends to fatigue earlier if dysfunctional. A dysfunctional muscular action will result in altered load tolerance regardless of joint angle.

hey DAM71, thanks for clearing that up for me man

Check out the cause and don't ignore it..
Ok my case was work induced but I got TE in r arm from being a postie ( sorting mail + delivering + throttle on postie bike). I changed to mainly left arm to keep going - got it in that one.. kept going for years by changing my way of doing things ( underhand throttle hold etc etc ).. Finally it moved into my shoulders and neck because I was using other muscles to keep working.
Got medically retired and I've spent about 10 years to get back to 90% of what I was. At the worst I had constant headaches and had to stay in bed on painkillers and was good for nothing.. couldn't work or even sit , stay still or look at something without worsening things. The lesson I should have learnt was don't hang in there - if it's work get another job!

I sometimes get the pain you are describing but not bad enough to stop riding. I don't have any suggestions about a cure I think rest is probably the best thing. However, I'd check a few articles about stance and just make sure you are doing it right. I changed my stance quite a bit recently and now sail with straight arms with my hands a lot closer together on the boom. I can't see how this position would strain the bicep.

Dam71 is on the money here. I've been in this situation about 3 times. Definitely seek some professional help first. The first time I did it I just dealt with it until it went away, 6 months ! Second and third time I got help and I was back on the water in two months.

Lengthen your harness lines is better so you keep your arm straighter.
Also sounds like you are gripping the boom, where it tightens up the muscle and tendants. Try just hooking your fingers on to the boom instead.... no more forearm issues

I have had this several times in the past and in my opinion Iceman and Fez are right - straight arms = less strain inside elbows. I figured out that my pumping technique was causing problems as I was flexing my elbows, now I use straight arms and the problem seems to have gone away.

I've undertaken the following measures:
- Lengthened my harness ropes and raised my boom so my arms (and bicep) are reasonably straight
- locating my harness ropes in the neutral postion on the boom
- Loosening my grip on the boom
- Completing bicep stretches several times a day and especially after sailing
- Sleep with my arms straight (I noticed I was sleeping with my arms fully bent, hugging the pillow, putting my bicep in a contracted position all night)
- keeping my arms straight when picking things up

Since these measures there has been a significant improvement

John
One of the things we were doing at the coaching sessions at RQ was to sail with our front arm behind our back on all points of sail. It helped me improve my harness technique by forcing me to use my hips rather than my arms to control the power from the sail thereby allowing your arms and upper body to rest while sailing. I now find myself dragging my front arm in the water lots now as it just feels kind of cool, something I was never able to do until i was forced into it.

Hi John,
I am just new to windsurfing but an experienced physio. Usually comes from combination in overload/technique issues.

Usual advice is to reduce workload/exercise initially but only completely stop if getting worse (want to avoid chronic issues). See if can work out caused from work/windsurfer and then get tips on sail setup (sorry cant help yet on that only started 2 weeks ago). good tips from previous posts I.e.icing, bicep stretching & strengthening (start exercises painfree then slowly progress to low level pain exercises - just monitor that it is not flaring up after exercises). Agree on not masking with drugs or injections usually quick fix for competition but considering u want to keep windsurfing sort out cause.

Other things to consider neck and thoracic restrictions could be causing issues in arm. Poor postures at work/windsurfing etc.

My advice is try sort it with these tips but if lasting more than 2 weeks see a physio or someone u trust. I am in melb but I can help find someone in most states. Can be easy to sort out if treated early (just care not to pay someone leaving electrodes on u).

Hope helps, this is just general overview of tendon problems.

Hey John before i get wet i do the hulk grrrrrr arm pump and this works for me if i dont i get the same thing as you and it last a few days getting the blood flowing first is a must but for now rest and massage hope your pain goes soon !

^ Stroppo, I'd love to see the hulk impression!

Thanks all for advice. I've already implemented a number of the strategies advised. Its been on a steady improve over the last 4 months - probably due in Part to the lack of wind.

The coming season will tell.

Hey Guys,

I have developed Achilles Tendinitis from some other sports I do. Been managing it for around 2 months. Have not sailed since last summer. Going on a holiday where I hope to sail in a couple of weeks. Just hoping to do some cruisey flat water sailing on a slalom board. Does anyone know how windsurfing effects Achilles? My Physio was not sure if I should avoid windsurfing or not. I am taking it easy with other sports I do (Cycling) whilst trying to rehabilitate, but I am not sure if windsurfing is going to be bad for it.

Cheers,

Adrian