Name my new injury...

[Zero Tolerance]

Well, after finally figuring out how to alleviate most of my shoulder pain, I hurt something else.

I was doing shoulder shrugs with heavy weight last night - and I lost grip with my left hand after about 8 reps. Today, the crook of my elbow hurts. Straightening my arm is uncomfortable.

What did I do and what can I do to help this injury heal?

Thanks in advance....

 

[Filthy McNast]

When you say "crook" of elbow are you referring to interior or exterior of the elbow or is the pain right in the middle where your arm bends? Pain on the inside (part closest to the middle line of your body) is "golfer's elbow" and pain on the outside aspect of your elbow is "tennis elbow". Both are forms of tendonitus affecting different areas on the elbow joint and both, but Golfer's elbow more so, can get debiliatating eventually if left unchecked. These are the the more common problems with the elbow joint, but they don't usually occur from a sudden, traumatic injury like it sounds like you sustained, but from continual overuse or misuse of the elbow joint. If the pain really is the middle of the elbow (top side), it could simply be a muscle pull relative to the lower biceps or from the forearm. The elbow is a messy joint with some tight crevices for tendons and ligaments to run through and is prone to give everybody who lifts problems from time to time. Good luck with your ailment whatever it ends up being. Ice it and get to a Dr. if it doesn't heal up in 3 or 4 days I would suggest.

 

[Aggravated]

When you say "crook" of elbow are you referring to interior or exterior of the elbow or is the pain right in the middle where your arm bends? Pain on the inside (part closest to the middle line of your body) is "golfer's elbow" and pain on the outside aspect of your elbow is "tennis elbow". Both are forms of tendonitus affecting different areas on the elbow joint and both, but Golfer's elbow more so, can get debiliatating eventually if left unchecked. These are the the more common problems with the elbow joint, but they don't usually occur from a sudden, traumatic injury like it sounds like you sustained, but from continual overuse or misuse of the elbow joint. If the pain really is the middle of the elbow (top side), it could simply be a muscle pull relative to the lower biceps or from the forearm. The elbow is a messy joint with some tight crevices for tendons and ligaments to run through and is prone to give everybody who lifts problems from time to time. Good luck with your ailment whatever it ends up being. Ice it and get to a Dr. if it doesn't heal up in 3 or 4 days I would suggest.

Dead on bro!

 

[Zero Tolerance]

The discomfort I'm feeling is on the inside of my elbow - not the outside by the bone - but the soft-tissue side. It's right in the middle where my arm bends. So I guess this is golfer's elbow.. I did "pulls" yesterday - and did go a little heavier than usual on bent-over rows.. Maybe that also had something to do with it. But, I really think this happened when I let go of the weight / lost my grip.

 

[bulls**t]

Well, after finally figuring out how to alleviate most of my shoulder pain, I hurt something else.

I was doing shoulder shrugs with heavy weight last night - and I lost grip with my left hand after about 8 reps. Today, the crook of my elbow hurts. Straightening my arm is uncomfortable.

What did I do and what can I do to help this injury heal?

Thanks in advance....

My friend, I say this with all the love in the world, but perhaps you should reassess your approach to training for just a little while.

In a recent post you talk about how you hit your upper body hard 3 times a week and are ON, despite what you describe as a need for surgery.
In a subsequent thread you speak of your need for bilateral shoulder surgery, and then the surprising relief you feel when you try a posterior capsule stretch, which would be the first stretch they have you do in physical therapy session 1.
In this thread you describe a what appears to be a repetitive overuse injury to the medial elbow consequent from a day of doing heavy shrugs and heavy rows.

I think it may be wise to get healthy first. Take a week off, two weeks off, do very light bodyweight movements, stretch, hot tub, ice, etc. If you are on AAS, PCT it and start up later when you are 100%. Your body is speaking to you very clearly, but are you listening?

Again, I mean no disrespect at all, in fact I mean the furthest thing from it. I want to see you kicking ass and going all out, but not at the expense of your health and well being.

Just something to contemplate. I sincerely wish you the best in health.

 

[Zero Tolerance]

I appreciate what you're saying! Thank you.. Let me say what's on my mind..

The shoulder surgery is something I'd rather not get involved with. Especially on both sides. I'm not a bodybuilder - I'm just a guy who wants to be in good shape - mainly big. I like being big. So I'm not making a career out of this - and if push comes to shove, I will stop training. I did it once and went into MMA for several years - and that wasn't so bad at all.. I was small (140lbs), but I could kick some nice ass.

When I inquired about physical therapy, the doctor preferred I just went right to the surgery. So, I never really got involved with physical therapy like I should have. I suppose I just got turned off to the whole thing. At any rate, I've been training seriously since October and while my shoulders do give me some pain - I've actually been able to press on without a whole lot of trouble. If I can continue down the path I'm on, than I'm okay.

The repetitive overuse injury surprises me. I don't train a whole lot. 3 days per week. I'm surprised that I could be over-using my elbow. Though I did go unusually heavy on bent-over rows and then heavy shrugs shortly afterwards. I really think this injury has more to do with dropped the weight suddenly (which is something I can never do due to tendonitis in my left arm) - because I don't have any of the typical symptoms that go along with golfer's elbow. I have no issue tightening my fist and gripping things.. And there's a couple of other symptoms I was expecting but never happened. At this point, the pain is almost gone and I'm going to do pushes today - and while I'm there, lift a few weights and see what movements hurt...

I've always been very injury prone. I lift carefully and my lifts look good - fairly precise. It's seems that no matter how long I rest (even years), I'm never fully injury free. I think this is just something I have to deal with. A shortcoming. I have amazing genetics but I cannot stay healthy. It's been this way since I'm in my teens. I'm 37 now..

I just hate to pack it up for a few months just to come back to the same old thing I've gotten used to over the decades.. I think I'm simply injury prone.......

 

[nightshift]

I have been down the road you are on. During the better part of 20 years in the gym, I have had my share of injuries. Some I had repaired, others I worked through. None were ignored or accepted as "that's just the way it is".
Injuries happen for reason and there are many. I was stubbornly under the impression that my form was solid until I saw myself on video. That eye opener resulted in a serious re-evaluation of what I was doing in the gym and how I was doing it. While a bit humbling at first, the upside is that I have made steady progress since then. The magnitude of my injuries has greatly decreased and a week off every now and again lets the body and mind rest and recover.
Please don't give into the notion that you are injury prone. Examine and evaluate all the aspects of your training. You may be surprised what you find.

 

[Zero Tolerance]

I wish I had a training partner. You're surely right. I bet my form is off..

I trained tonight and the gym was packed with a bunch of criminals. It was difficult getting everything in - so I basically just did chest presses with dumbells and some other triceps movements. I felt good and was happy that I could at least do my push movements.

I tried a light dumbell curl and felt a little discomfort at my inner elbow. So I skipped my minor biceps workout for the day and will see how I feel on Tuesday (my main pull day). I'll see what pulls I can do then. If I feel any discomfort, I'll skip it for one more week - but I think I'll be good after that. If I don't feel pain, I'll train. If I do, I'll wait it out some more. My biceps and back seem to have developed really well lately - much more so that my chest. So focusing strictly on pushes isn't going to bother me...

 

[Filthy McNast]

It's been awhile since this thread has been active but I just started thinking about some of the issues I had in the past with "golfer's elbow". A pretty much sure fire test to see if the ulnar collateral ligament is causing the problem you are having is to get on a preacher bench with a moderately weighted dumbbell (say 20-30 lbs) and do a couple of full extension arm curls. If you can curl the weight up fine without pain but have pain on the extension phase, then you can pretty much guarantee that the Ulnar Collateral Ligament is involved and causing your pain on the medial side of your elbow. The ulnar collateral ligament is the one that a lot of baseball pitchers have repaired from overuse, improper mechanics while throwing. They call it "Tommy John Surgery" when they go in and repair the ulnar collateral ligament. You don't have to be a pitcher to damage it though. It can be done through weight lifting as well.