Tendonitis Anyone?

[Hector]

How many of you guys have dealt with this from your practice? Is it from the wrong sticks? Improper technique? Too many reps? Some days I can't even close my hand. I'm going for acupuncture treatments, but the treatment hurts worse than the tendonitis!

Hector

[wes tasker]

The cause(s) of your tendonitis could be any combination of what you listed, or a myriad of other things. Proper form and a gradual building of reps is definitely important to avoid these types of injury. I would suggest purchasing Tom Bisio's book "A Tooth From the Tiger's Mouth". It has several internal and external herbal forumals that would probably help with the acupuncture your currently receiving. Of course, it would be good to run them by your acupunturist to see what they thought....

Hopefully forum member Steve Lamade will see this and contribute as he has a lot to offer in both acupuncture and other therapies of TCM for injuries.............

-wes tasker

[mikesf]

Also ibuprofen is good.

I had tendonitis bad many years ago from working out with ax handles. I stopped working out with them. At the time I was doing a lot of abanico type motions that really tweaked my wrist. You have to build it up slowly.

I'd recommend strengthening your shoulders and grip.

There is always the mechanics of how you are swinging the stick. Try using more swinging motion and less wrist. (assuming you have tendinitis in your wrist?) Strengthening your grip and shoulders might help..

My wrists started to hurt when I start back training in Kali, but after a few months of building up the strength, and ingraining proper technique they are fine.

Start slow and build it up...

Exercises:

for shoulders - hand stand against a wall is always a good one. Try to do mini push ups from the hand stand until you can do a full one.., overhead press if you have weights, push ups followed by stair climbers are good for endurance and shoulder strength.

for grip - dumbell curls, kettlebell, lots of stuff - google it.

Take the time to develop the strength for the specific movements you are having trouble with. This is a huge key in MA.


Mike

[lhommedieu]

Where is your tendonitis occuring? What kind of sticks are you swinging? What kind of techniques are your practicing? Are you doing solo drills or partner drills?

Best,

Steve

[gagimilo]

I have found out that there are some exercises that are both great preventive measures and helpful for accelerating the recuperation from tendonitis, in case it affected your limbs.
Namely, for arms do pushups as slow as possible, even try holding the position in early, middle and late stages of the movement. For legs, so the same with squats. In both cases, breath through the movement.

[kali808]

Hey Hector. I hear that tendonitis is very painful and could return worse if it is not properly addressed or corrected. I have worked on a few athletes with is type of problem, from the elbow, knee, shoulder, and so forth, and have had good success with them.

I'm glad that you are going to an acupuncture for this condition. I have heard wonderful things that they can do. I am a chiropractor, and have a background in kinesiology. The athletes that I work with for this condition that I have found, are that they all had biomechanical errors of the involved joints. From what it sounds like, the problem area involved can come from anywhere along the arm. It could either be your wrist, elbow, shoulder, spine, etc. If one of the those areas has a biomechanical flaw or defect, due to a misalignment, somewhere along the line, one of those areas gotta give because the body naturally compensates for the flaws of the other joints, therefore has to work harder to keep up.

Hope this makes sense to you. I am going back and forth typing and taking care of my patients. Keep doing acupuncture if that helps you. Drugs do not correct the cause of the problem, they only mask symptoms and result in side-effects. Take care.

Dennis

[Hector]

Thank you gentlemen for all the great advice. I’m a commercial painter and I think years of improper form with the long rollers are taking toll finally. The stickwork I do is mostly power hitting the heavy bag with medium rattan sticks as opposed to partner drills. It’s the worst (top of the forearm about 2 inches above the elbow) when I initially grip the stick, and at the apex of a strike. So basically if I don't hold a stick or hit with it I'm ok. LOL

I’m going to continue with the acupuncture and a lot of rest. That and 800mg of Ibuprofin. Kali808, I am going to see a sports chiropractor next week.

Many thanks again for your help.

[lhommedieu]

Thank you gentlemen for all the great advice. I’m a commercial painter and I think years of improper form with the long rollers are taking toll finally. The stickwork I do is mostly power hitting the heavy bag with medium rattan sticks as opposed to partner drills. It’s the worst (top of the forearm about 2 inches above the elbow) when I initially grip the stick, and at the apex of a strike. So basically if I don't hold a stick or hit with it I'm ok. LOL

I’m going to continue with the acupuncture and a lot of rest. That and 800mg of Ibuprofin. Kali808, I am going to see a sports chiropractor next week.

Many thanks again for your help.

I know the feeling well. Lots of work with a heavy stick and my forearm seizes up and my hand looks like E.T.'s - I literally have to push it flat with my other hand to get it to unwind out of its claw shape. It's worth noting that there's a line of tissue from the forearm area you mention to the triceps to the rear deltoids to the back of the shoulder to C7 that's all potentially involved here. Sometimes you can find tight tender points on the teres minor and even the lats. Chances are years of painting have left you succeptible to tendonitis in the forearm due to a structural imbalance somewhere; you'll have to address this down the line.

I suggest giving up on the heavy bag work for a while (!) and invest time doing some biomechanical cutting with light sticks instead. In addition to the acupuncture and chiropractic treatments that you're getting, massage therapy to the area in your forearm and the above mentioned areas should be helpful. Wes mentioned Tom Bisio's book - the tendon lotion formula and the tendon relaxing soak would be very helpful once you're past the acute stage of your injury. There are other useful remedies in Tom's book as well that pertain to tendonitis.

Best,

Steve