Tennis elbow

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
LegDeLimber

LegDeLimber

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
2,174
Location
NC
Was done to the rt shoulder.
Twernt no locknut option, Dr used some sorta overpriced expansion screws.
Basically some glorified ghetto rigging with some high priced tools and alloys.
Not even so sure how well the nerves were positioned,
but after 8 years of that feeling like I'd been hit in the elbow,
that ran from shoulder to finger tips,
it's sorta hard to say how bad the nerves were damaged from the pressure.
But you could easily see in the scans how bad things were out of position
before the work.

Still feels like someones thumb on my windpipe.
I can tell that it just moved the stress above and below the original damage
Thus that grinding sound and some other odditys
like the occasional phantom toe .
When the toe "appears", it itches like crazy and NO way to scratch what ain't there.
But rolling my head around will usually make it go away after a bit.
 
alderman

alderman

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jun 4, 2005
Messages
3,815
Location
Western Oregon
Somehow it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one, but my arm still hurts. Sounds like I've got a fairly mild case compared to some of you so I'll quit my whining for now.
 
LegDeLimber

LegDeLimber

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
2,174
Location
NC
We're just trying to give ya a case the willies, is all.

Edit: I kept thinking it wasn't that much either and put up with it till
it got this bad.
talk to your Drs and try to figure a different way to do things if possible.
 
Last edited:
TreeGuyHR

TreeGuyHR

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Messages
625
Location
Hood River, OR
Was done to the rt shoulder.
Twernt no locknut option, Dr used some sorta overpriced expansion screws.
Basically some glorified ghetto rigging with some high priced tools and alloys.
Not even so sure how well the nerves were positioned,
but after 8 years of that feeling like I'd been hit in the elbow,
that ran from shoulder to finger tips,
it's sorta hard to say how bad the nerves were damaged from the pressure.
But you could easily see in the scans how bad things were out of position
before the work.

Still feels like someones thumb on my windpipe.
I can tell that it just moved the stress above and below the original damage
Thus that grinding sound and some other odditys
like the occasional phantom toe .
When the toe "appears", it itches like crazy and NO way to scratch what ain't there.
But rolling my head around will usually make it go away after a bit.

Guess I should knock on wood (knocks on his desk). I was just left with some reduced range of movement, and my neck and shoulder muscles get tight. I induced a rotator cuff type injury in my left shoulder from too much climbing on a Blake's while chasing big stuck pine limbs. Seems I was prone to it 'cause the rest of my shoulder was so big, it compressed the shoulder joint and pinched a tendon on a small muscle, causing it to swell. i couldn't even tuck in my shirt!

Mostly gone, but flares up when I climb. Gonna be a long road, and I may need my shoulder "Dremeled". The Doc said I also have arthritis. Great.
 
stihl023/5

stihl023/5

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
9,452
Location
North
Tennis Elbow, golfers' forearm, wood splitters' wrist...

Been fighting this for over a year. Wear the arm band/brace, take Aleve every day. Still hurts like a mother. It's only on one side and happens when I'm picking up firewood with one hand. And I burn wood all winter. :angry:

One thing that helped was a deep tissue message on that spot. Hurt during the message, but the gnawing pain has not been as intense since. :msp_sleep:

I have the exact same thing on my right arm. Always remember the strap once it hurts.:msp_sad:
 
shadow745

shadow745

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
104
Location
Central North Carolina
Pinched/strained/tweaked tendons are one thing. Wait till you actually have one rip completely in half. Wait, make that two of them because I've had a total rupture of the right knee patellar tendon that let my kneecap slingshot up into my lower quad. Then about 5 years later had my right elbow tricep tendon snap off the bone. I thought I knew what pain was till the knee injury. Morphine couldn't touch it.

I'm a big believer in R.I.C.E. as it gets me through. Trust me, surgery never gets it even close to the way it was before injury.
 
Last edited:
nmurph

nmurph

ArboristSite.com Sponsor
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
16,162
Location
Somewhere in the space-time continuum
I have had three shots on the upper outside of the elbow. It is the tendon that operates your middle finger (go figure) is anchored. The shot isn't bad, but the golfball size knot of cortisone starts hurting a few hours later and keeps me up (or requires meds) the first night. It takes a few days for the magic grease takes a few days to reduce the inflamation. I had my last shot in Sept and had been doing well until the first of December when a particular 372 didn't want to start. I knew it when I strained it. It is better, but I'm not sure if it's going to take a shot to totally clear it up. I see a good friend who is a PA with an orthopedist. He said likely I have a tear that won't fully heal without surgery. As long as I can get along with shot or three per year, I won't be visiting the OR. He also said that repeated cortisone damages the tissue, so there is a practical limit to how long the shots can be used.
 
sawfun9

sawfun9

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,071
Location
Oregon
My 066 gives me pain but my 460 doesn't, go figure. I too had to go for the cortizone shot in the elbow. Man it made me involuntarily jump off the bench. And that's while they were burning my arm with dry ice to distract me from the pain. Those shots are only temporary and won't work in the long run. Surgery may or may not work as well, so take it easy on that part of your body when you can. Apparently it's the thinest area of membrane on your body where the muscle attaches to the bone and is suseptable to inflamation.

I second the decomp being welcome on a 50cc saw. Especially when burried in a hedge with little room to move.
 
dpavlock

dpavlock

ArboristSite Lurker
Joined
May 27, 2011
Messages
45
Location
Southeast TX
I have had three shots on the upper outside of the elbow. It is the tendon that operates your middle finger (go figure) is anchored. The shot isn't bad, but the golfball size knot of cortisone starts hurting a few hours later and keeps me up (or requires meds) the first night. It takes a few days for the magic grease takes a few days to reduce the inflamation. I had my last shot in Sept and had been doing well until the first of December when a particular 372 didn't want to start. I knew it when I strained it. It is better, but I'm not sure if it's going to take a shot to totally clear it up. I see a good friend who is a PA with an orthopedist. He said likely I have a tear that won't fully heal without surgery. As long as I can get along with shot or three per year, I won't be visiting the OR. He also said that repeated cortisone damages the tissue, so there is a practical limit to how long the shots can be used.

Your Dr is right on about the Cortisone damage. I eventually had to have surgery for the tennis elbow. Many people laugh at you when you you tell them you are suffering from tennis elbow. You don't know the pain unless you've had it bad. It was so bad at one time that I could barely grip my car keys. Surgery about 6 years ago. Never an issue after that. Bionic elbow now:laugh:
 
nmurph

nmurph

ArboristSite.com Sponsor
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
16,162
Location
Somewhere in the space-time continuum
I have been through two rotator cuff repair surgeries. A torn labrum repair. An in '04 I dislocated my ankle. My foot looked like it was taking a right turn while my leg was pointed forward!! I avulsed a ligament, pulling a dime-sized chunk of bone out of the ankle with the ligament still attached. The OS used cement to glue it back in place. I had 13 seperate fractures in the tib/fib and ankle area. The x-ray looked like a HD had exploded in my foot with the screws and plates they used to stabilize my foot. It was three months on crutches bf I could bear any weight on it. I returned to competitive racquetball 6 months after the injury. Longterm, I am very fortunate that the OS was very experienced and have a nearly perfect foot. I will never forget him making the statement that in orthopedics, the enemy of good is better...think about it!!
 
sawfun9

sawfun9

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
1,071
Location
Oregon
This is an excellent subject for "chainsawist's" and I think more could be said about it. How to hold your saw during and after a cut as well as sprung AV are serious subjects for discussion on the Tennis Elbow subject.
 
Fire8

Fire8

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
622
Location
E. Ok
Originally Posted by WoodTick007
what do you people pay for your cortizone shots?

There normal charge is $160, including the office visit.

What nmurph said

One thing about it you will fill in the elbow and your pocket book you won't be cheated:hmm3grin2orange:
 
TreeGuyHR

TreeGuyHR

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Messages
625
Location
Hood River, OR
This is an excellent subject for "chainsawist's" and I think more could be said about it. How to hold your saw during and after a cut as well as sprung AV are serious subjects for discussion on the Tennis Elbow subject.

Right.

I was strong enough to cut for hrs one handing a 200T when i wrecked my left shoulder. I suppose you would be at risk for tennis elbow doing that, especially with an arm extended. Slowly getting back into it.
 
Dan_IN_MN

Dan_IN_MN

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
4,272
Location
FORMERLY Manyhobies
Get some good old McCulloch saws with the RH start, then you can achieve equal use on both arms and minimize the damage to one side or the other (i.e. now both will hurt equally).

Mark

As soon as I started reading this thread, I thought of Mark and his McCullochs!

OP, that doesn't sound like fun!

Currently, I don't think I could run a saw because I put a van in a ditch on it's side, then back on it's wheels. Because of this, I have whiplash in my back and neck. Hopefully, I'll be better in a month or two.
 
Whistler

Whistler

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
160
Location
Central Wisconsin
I had tennis elbow yrs. ago when I was part-time logging a good mixed hardwood stand and was using 80 Jonsereds. Those sunzabeeches were nasty . Why they didn't put compression releases on them makes me wonder to this day . Anyway, I ended up going to a chiropractor and was fortunate enough to have an intern there who studied "stripping". It may also be called deep-tissue-massage , as was mentioned earlier. Hurts like heck (WOW) when it is done but the rewards greatly offset the pain. No shots or pills , just massage. And yes , the bands worn on your forearm to keep the muscles from expanding and straining the tendons , really do help !
 
Top