elbow pain when straightening arm

Hi everyone.

I acquired some kind of elbow problem. I can't tell for sure exactly how it happened. I compete in kickboxing 3 x per week, and lift weights 3 x per week. I also spend a lot of time sitting at the computer during the day (I'm a student). My weights program is sensible - I complete the compound lifts, generally heavier weight lower reps. It's not like I am doing crazy volume like those idiots at the gym doing 10x10 curls.....

Anyway. One day my elbow would hurt when I flexed (like doing a bicep curl without weight). This pain went away after a day. I've been taking it easy for the last two weeks. I can still train in kickboxing and lift weights pain free. However, when I straighten my arm, I still feel a small amount of pain, more so towards the inside of my elbow. I also get pain when I rest my forearm on my desk for a long period of time. Or if I hyper extend it if I miss a target punching.

What could this possibly be? Can I continue training if it is pain free? What are some things I can do? It doesn't seem serious. The pain is mild. I'd say quite mild. I'm taking anti-inflammatory and using compression occasionally. It's just distracting that this is lingering, I am very wary of acquiring any long term injuries. At the same time I hate to miss training. Could this be indicative of some other injury?

Any help is greatly appreciated,

best wishes,
Liam

Stop taking any over the counter prescription at the current stage wont help you.
Is hard via a web to diagnose and perfrom testing you need to see a Dr or physio to perform the whole interview process
You can work out when pain free though at the curreent state you can do the rest of the body abs legs etc so you wont fully miss out on training days.
Is it painfull when perfoming weigth free movements? if no start adding some weights such as start off with a 1kg weigth. i know is a lot less from what you do but when an ijury accurs the muscles forget and act like they never trained before.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by liamg88

Hi everyone.

I acquired some kind of elbow problem. I can't tell for sure exactly how it happened. I compete in kickboxing 3 x per week, and lift weights 3 x per week. I also spend a lot of time sitting at the computer during the day (I'm a student). My weights program is sensible - I complete the compound lifts, generally heavier weight lower reps. It's not like I am doing crazy volume like those idiots at the gym doing 10x10 curls.....

Anyway. One day my elbow would hurt when I flexed (like doing a bicep curl without weight). This pain went away after a day. I've been taking it easy for the last two weeks. I can still train in kickboxing and lift weights pain free. However, when I straighten my arm, I still feel a small amount of pain, more so towards the inside of my elbow. I also get pain when I rest my forearm on my desk for a long period of time. Or if I hyper extend it if I miss a target punching.

What could this possibly be? Can I continue training if it is pain free? What are some things I can do? It doesn't seem serious. The pain is mild. I'd say quite mild. I'm taking anti-inflammatory and using compression occasionally. It's just distracting that this is lingering, I am very wary of acquiring any long term injuries. At the same time I hate to miss training. Could this be indicative of some other injury?

Any help is greatly appreciated,

best wishes,
Liam

---

Hi Liam,

I have encountered this problem before in a patient performing similar training (ti-kwan-do), apparently its quite common - as this patient reported. When he presented he had quite pronounced pain and restriction at the end of his available range of movement at his elbow joint. I decided to tackle the condition two fold: with joint mobilization and strong soft tissue (muscle/tendon) release techniques. The soft tissue techniques were predominatly aimed at the elbow flexor muscle group-especially brachioradilis- and his wrist extensors, this was decided due to the fact that he displayed signs of trigger point referral patters of pain. The techniques that i used to mobilize the joint were generally very basic but required A LOT of physical work on my behalf as the joint was very tight.
After two sessions the restriction was still evident but greatly improved but there was still pain at the end of his range of movement, albeit at a tolerable level.

My advice would be to seek out people in your gym who have encountered/suffered the same and enquire as to the Physio etc that they went to-provided they got relief from the treatment approach. It may also be a good idea to make enquires to your local Physio clinics to seek out therapists that have treated this condition before. It would be advisable to limit you upper limb weight/resistance training until you can get this sorted, the longer that you leave it the more chronic the condition and the longer you'll be out of action.

Hope this is of some help.:)

Hi Liamg88,

I agree with previous posts as to resting your affected elbow from rigorous training and start gently as long as there's no pain. I would also emphasize that seeking a physio in-person is better so as they can fully assess your injury. Taking care of this problem early on can prevent you from further injury and set-back with your workout regimen. Also, there's tests that physio can do in-person to see if it's an epicondylitis vs strain...sounds like what you may have. And if there's an onset of pain again...you can do icing x 20 minutes on your elbow/painful area.

Good luck.

Good luck.