I am an eventer and gardener. Every spring, lateral epicondyitis (tennis elbow) rears it’s head from dragging heavy bags of mulch, weeding, dragging things and the start of cross country riding which all irritates that tendon/bone connection in my right lateral elbow. Anti-inflammatories marginally help. This year, it has been the worst ever but I did spread about 75 bags of 3 cubic feet mulch. It’s the beginning of the season so no rest. Anyone use one of those tennis elbow straps http://www.gobros.com/mcdavid-tennis…0#.WQI6HsYjVPY
No straps, but I share your pain! I call it hammer/saw/paint/work elbow. I’m trying to be more ambidextrous to relieve the right side. I work 6 out of 8 days, then farm work for 6 days straight. That schedule juuuust gives my right arm a chance to stop hurting before it’s round 2.
Judicious antiinflammatories are your friend-to sleep-not to keep going or you will only aggravate it more. Really, the pain is a message “I need time off”. Just rest it, use the other side more meanwhile.
Think in horse terms - if he’s limping do you bute or strap and keep working him?
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I would suggest a lifestyle change so you can continue doing what you love as long as possible. Maybe getting your own tractor with a front end loader, so it can lift and carry the bags for you.
This stuff worked for me, and it has a 100% guarantee.
IME the strap does help. I’d give it a try. I found the simple strap the most helpful and not crazy about the ones with the puffy pads.
Try some different pressure straps and use ice on it. The tendon is inflamed so ice is really your friend. If you can handle NSAIDs, they will also help with the inflammation. But ice for sure…20 minutes on, the 20 off, repeat
The straps do help. I prefer the ones with the bump. I seem to get faster improvement if I use the ones with the pad/bump.
Susan
I ordered a strap with a bump. Should be here next week. I guess I will have to wear every spring!
Unless you get some different instruction from a Med pro on the use of the strap… hold your fingers on your forearm next to the joint. as you flex your muscles that hurt, you 'll feel the tendon pushing outward. Place the strap’s bump there for the best support.
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I had real tennis elbow – actually from playing tennis – never tried the strap, played through the pain + kept doing all the barn work and gardening, and, and, and…eventually I tore my tendon right off the bone.
My sports doc said he’d never seen anything like it – not worth operating on unless I wanted to take a year off from doing ANYTHING that involved using my arm. So…I stopped playing tennis 
(duhh) – elbow hurt too much to play anyway-- and I just got on with my life. What more could happen? Right? Fast forward three years later – I have no idea what my tendon looks like in there – maybe it magically reattached – it feels perfectly fine but it took AGES.
Moral to the story: take it easy - don’t over do it - ‘try’ to let it settle down and heal. You don’t want to end up ‘unattached’. It could happen!
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I tried the strap once and found it made things worse, not better. YMMV. Giving up all weight training with my arms and limiting how much sweeping, etc I do at the barn are slowly making it right. It will be a year from the initial injury until my arm is 100percent, though. Tendons heal slowly.
I had a problem with my right arm. Nothing really fixed it. Physio, Doctors, Acupuncture, Chiropractors, You name it.
The only thing that helped with the pain was a tens machine.
Nit doing anything helped.
Time helped.
Fast forward decades.
I walk into a chiropractor’s office. I am there about my lower back. I have not mentioned my arm. I have not mentioned horses to the person who took my information.
He watches me walk in and up to him.
“All you b***** horse riders. You have landed on your head. You have hurt your arm.”
He fixed my arm in 2 sessions.
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I’ve had this and rotator cuff and ACL. Things might hep relieve temporary pain, but you really need to let it heal and strengthen everything around it, which is a very long process. You can go to a physical therapist to get specific ideas on how to do that. You really want to heal it, or it will always be a problem, and even then it’s going to be less than ideal.
I have a desk job that requires long hours and I’m rabid about my hobbies, horses, fly fishing, shooting, gardening, so when I manage to slip the office-collar I run out and totally overdo it. I suffered badly from tennis elbow last year.
I tried the strap, it brought immediate but fleeting relief. I keep it with me in the event I’m away somewhere, pain flares up, and don’t want to quit.
Ice helped, NSAIDs helped, voltaren gel (Surpass for people) helped - but all to an extent. What truly helped the most was resting the arm, and once the pain subsided, gentle physical therapy (stretching and strengthening).
Tendon pain may not just be soreness or inflammation, it could be damage - micro tears at first - the more the envelope is pushed, the less time given for healing, the more long lasting the damage could become.
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Prolotherepy, saved me.
Yes, I have this and it annoys me to no end! It never seems to fully heal, its just something I live with.What helps is wearing the strap, plus doing a forearm exercise:
https://goodexerciseguide.com/the-exercises/tennis-elbow-exercises/eccentric-elbow-exercise/
I also have a chiropractor that does Active Release Technology (ART) on it, which is similar to PT. I want to scream while he is manipulating the area, but it really feels good afterwards!
I’ve considered trying this. Basically an internal blister, just like we do to horses LOL.
I’ve had tennis elbow AND golf elbow simultaneously for YEARS from computer work plus barn chores plus riding/driving horses plus using my cell phone too much. Then it moved up to my shoulders and my rotator cuffs started to get sore on both sides. I couldn’t sleep in ANY position without crying. Life was a nightmare. I had injections done two years ago but they aren’t something you can do frequently because it just eats away the tendons. I couldn’t just stop using my computer (got several different ergo keyboards which helped for a short time), I used various straps, Back on Track elbow brace, physical therapy, TENS unit, lots of ice, Voltaren with DMSO, more Aleve than is healthy, and what finally got it all to go away was an enzyme called serrapeptase. It took about 3 weeks before I started noticing a difference and then BAM all the tendon pain was gone. I ran out and within two days, it was all back (not as severe, but enough to keep me awake at night). So now I take it every single day and I’m feeling amazing.
I take six of these a day: https://www.amazon.com/iSerra-250-00…/dp/B01B158PYU
I have tried the strap, but it didn’t help. I got a TENS unit and it, combined with hiring barn help, cured it. After a few years, with less horses, I let the help go and went back to doing the stalls/barn work myself. It will occasionally flare, but for the most part, the pain is gone. Oh, and way back when I went to the orthopedic surgeon and he did a cortisone injection. The most painful thing I’ve ever experienced! And it didn’t help. I also adjusted the way I hold the manure fork as I clean, and that made a difference, too. Good luck. It is really painful, I know.
I have never heard of this. This is the brand you use? And you take 6 a day? All at once, spread out?
The strap sorta helps. I have taken to doing more with my left hand. Ibuprofen helps but really it isn’t the best for you to take daily . Do they do shock wave/PRP for people? I know they do PRP.
