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Dr 8a

Yet another elbow injury

Hi, Since I started climbing in 2009 I've occasionally been experiencing a sharp pain in both my elbows during bouldering. It's mainly located on the inside of the elbow, at the biceps tendon. I also sometimes get a deep aching pain after a bouldering session. The pain mostly occurs after hanging from an hold with my elbow bent 90 degrees and then let go. So there is usually no pain during the hold, or flexing of the biceps muscle but after i let go. I sometimes experience this pain after mounting a hold. Usually when I experience this pain I take a week of climbing, stretch and use Voltaren gel on the affected area. Then I might get a few pain free bouldering sessions before the pain returns. Just recently I took a 3 month break from climbing and only working out in the gym - pain free. But when I returned to climbing, the pain is back. Sorry for all the info, any ideas? Tack på förhand Berle
Hello,  I used to have the same problem, but not as frequently as you, just when I climbed much more than usually. From what I know, you have tennis/climbers elbow, which is inflammation of  elbow sinew, caused by overloading forearm muscles or biceps.  What helped was taking a one week break and everything was back to normal. Also using anti-infammation gels does only relief pain, but doesn't heal elbow. It just needs rest and not be overloaded heavily after rest. Hope I helped. 
If the pain only occurs in some of your bouldering sessions it is probably not at random. Various variables can affect your body more than you might think. For instance if you are dehydrated your tendons will be too, and loose some of their fexibility. Or you might just be trying the same problem over and over too many times, hence stressing one point of the muscle or tendon especially much. I had some elbow pain when i started bouldering, but took good advise not to try the same move to many times in a row, and switch up the style of problems in a session, no elbow problem since, now it's all fingers :P
Tennis elbow is an overuse injury caused by muscle imbalance, sharp increase in constant workload, and inflamation from working too much. In climbing, it can be caused by working overhangs, particuarly bouldering problems, and times when you put severe stress on your biceps from dynamic moves or your feet cutting.  If it is severe tendonitis (How bad are your symptoms? how long do they last after climbing? How soon do you feel it while working out?,) you may want to consult your doctor and do therapy sessions. You may find that you are not working your tri-ceps as much as you need to be as well. The muscles in your body need to be balanced. If you work your bicep (as you do so often with climbing) you need to work the opposite, your triceps. Best solution for tennis elbow is take a break from climbing overhangs and slowly start working your triceps by doing pushups or tricep pulldowns or overheads. Take anti inflamatory medication. Ice after climbing/working out. And ease back into climbing steeper, more strenuous climbs. If you are climbing and you start to feel your elbow pain creeping in, stop climbing and rest. You can recover while being active, just take precaution. (However, if you have severe tendonitis, you may need to take a complete break from working out and do therapy) In short: 1) Rest 2)Work your triceps more to keep your body balanced 3) Ice after climbing/working out 4)Stop climbing if you feel pain. If it doesn't feel better after 3-4 weeks, consult a medical professional because your condition may be more severe than slight tennis elbow/tendonitis.
If i look at the description where the pain is localisated, I wouldn´t say its a tennis elbow. More like a golfers elbow or more a biceps tendon irritation ....anyway just an insignificant not... doesn´t matter. I would take a rest for 1 week. Then follow the short advice from matthew. PLUS stretch your biceps and your forearm at least 1 time the day. ...but more important, I'm sure everyone here knows that it is hard, stop if it hurts :)  get well soon.
First off: thank you for the thoughts and tips! I will be sure to try them :)I agree with Martin in the sense that it's probably not a case of tennis elbow because the pain is mostly located on the inside of the elbow, though I'm going to try Mathews tips. The symptoms can vary from a very sharp and intense pain right after a move, to a deep ache in the lower part of the bicep that can last for a day. Normally, if I stop climbing when it starts hurting, the pain will go away after a few minutes and stay away unless I start climbing again.Rest and stretching it is.
I can't believe I forgot stretching! That is probably the most important thing too. A good stretch to do 3-4 times a day is clasp your hands over your head and reach down to try and touch your back. You want to keep your elbows up while doing this.
Hey mate. I have had the same problem for many years, its just tendonitis/osis on the bicep tendon. (same deal as tennis/golfers elbow) I have finally got rid of mine (although my tendons still get stiff and tight after to much climbing) Your problem is not enough rest between sessions and your not mixing up your climbing. The way I got rid of mine: (listed from most important) 1. REST. You must rest at least three to four days between sessions. I would rest then climb, rest. If my elbows were a little tight I would rest another day. I slowly built my tendons back to full strength, this is a slow process. 2. Stretch, lots, all the time, everyday (look at bicep and tricep stretches) 3. Icing after sessions (helps with recovery times) 4. Changing it up, try learning trad climbing for a year or doing some easy sport climbs or even train your endurance rather than your power 5. Getting your tricep's stronger I would try just go bouldering outdoors on the weekend rather than training during the week (this is more fun and less stressfull on your arms). You will probably have tendon problems for the rest of your life, so its all about learning how to deal with it but get on with climbing. It took me three years to get better. Allan
Hi BernieThis is most likely an inflammation in the brachioradialis muscleYou need to strenghten it by doing reverse grip bicepscurls slowly  and you need to streckt this muscle by grabbing on to something behind and above you shoulder and then with straight arm rotate the body down and away from the the arm. A short bout of Voltaren could kickstart the process but for real healing you need to do the above. best of luckBjörn
The brachioradialis is lateral (outside).  Do you mean Brachialis?  He's getting symptoms on the inside/medial. Look at Dodgy Elbows here http://www.drjuliansaunders.com/resources/feature_articles/ Cheers