[csantana]

Hi dudes and dudettes at the moment i am suffering from tennis elbow probably through playing too much golf, anyway does or will it affect my guitar playing/practice i normally spend about 1 hr a day playing/practicing sometimes it's sore. Has anyone else have this problem and has it affectewd their playing , don't really want to stop as i am seeing progress all be it slowly..

thanks oh and merry christmas and happy new yera to one and all

[allthumbs]

Do stretches. Stand arms distance facing a wall. Put your palms against the wall fingers pointing down towards the floor. Lean into your palms, arms straight.. Your arms should be shoulder height or slightly higher till you feel a good stretch. Minimum 3 times a day for 30 seconds..
When your playing and start to feel discomfort stop. Playing through the pain is a fallacy that can lead to permanent injury.
Read this about treatments.

Tennis elbow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[hb]

I have suffered through the tennis elbow syndrome for over 2 years and yes, it affects my guitar playing also. I went to a joint doctor who basically said, "stop using your arms for 6 months.!" (I have it in both arms). He gave me cortizone which lasted about 2 days. It's the repetition, not the force when playing the guitar that aggregates the joint. About a month ago I heard of a treatment that was close to me. I'm not much into chiropractors, but this is something I've never heard of. After a month of treatment I am much better but have a long way to go. You can research it more at this site:
Active Release Techniques®
At this point in my therapy, I would highly recommend trying it. Good luck, as I know fully what you're going through!
hb
P.S. Allthumbs stretching exercise is one of the exercises was mentioned in the therapy.

[csantana]

Cheers guys hb have had a look unfortunatley don't seem to be any in my area but will look more into it thanks..
allthumbs i will try some of those excercises hope they help. I do have a strap that fits around the forearm which helps a bit, so thanks for the help ..

[JessThrasher]

Try a Chinese medicine practitioner. Just do a search on google, they're everywhere! I always go to my chinese doctor for sports injuries and such.

They don't help JUST chinese people but be warned that most of them don't have the best english skills.

[csantana]

Cheers i will give a chinese medicine practitioner a look i am always up for somthing different and if it works all the better....thanks again
and Happy New Year

[JessThrasher]

Originally Posted by csantana

Cheers i will give a chinese medicine practitioner a look i am always up for somthing different and if it works all the better....thanks again
and Happy New Year

Just to let you know, Chinese medicine can be considered alternative/experimental medicine. Dunno if insurance covers it, so it might be abit costly.

[felixdcat]

Originally Posted by csantana

Hi dudes and dudettes at the moment i am suffering from tennis elbow probably through playing too much golf, anyway does or will it affect my guitar playing/practice i normally spend about 1 hr a day playing/practicing sometimes it's sore. Has anyone else have this problem and has it affectewd their playing , don't really want to stop as i am seeing progress all be it slowly..

thanks oh and merry christmas and happy new yera to one and all

Um, I believe there are some exercices against it. But I'm not sure, could be talking nonsense.

[csantana]

yeah felixdcat allthumbs has pionted some out which i have been trying, don't know if it's helping but it's been getting easier maybe a coincedent (Spelling haha) also been using some ibrofen gel just rub it on and a elbow bandage youknow the type elasticated tube 1..Can still lift a pint of beer and a shot of Jack Daniels thou lol..

[Aunt Doty]

Hope you're getting better. If you are not taking any anti-inflammatories you might try Aleve or it's generic-Naproxen. The over the counter is only 1/2 the strength of the prescription so you should take 2 for best results. Also, be sure you take it with food or it can really irritate your stomach.

I had a spell of tennis elbow a couple of years ago......it lasted for about 4 months and then just went away and no troubles since. I wore the arm band thingy and it seemed to help a little.

[hb]

All of the above is good advise. You need to decide whether you want to cover up the pain for a while or cure the pain. Being a cowboy by trade, I tried covering the pain for 2 years and it just didn't work. I thought this "tennis elbow" was something was for sissys,but then I realized what pain can do to weaken the other muscles you are not using do to the pain. I can carry a 100 lb. sack of feed fine, but I can't turn the tuning pegs on a guitar! Getting older ain't much fun. But what's the alternative??? Wishing you the best,
hb.