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Tennis elbow
- Thread starter undertoe
- Start date
Fishers Ghost
New member
Have a look around the sports shops & chemists for some "Elmore Oil", made in Australia, won't cure tennis elbow but sure will make it bearable until it clears up by itself.
I have gotten it several times. Swing with your other arm, and /or keep your arm straight at all times when you swing the machine.
Mick in Dubbo
New member
I've had it before, but from my job. The only real cure is rest. The best way to ad void it, is to change hands regularly. I always change hands every few minutes on all hunts. It feels weird at first, but after 2 or 3 hunts, it will feel quite comfortable and you can kiss arm fatigue goodbye! You will be able to hunt all day if you want to without undue stress. You can feel it in the shoulders at the end of the day if you are swinging a heavy detector, or have the coil a long way out in front of you. On that point, keep your coil as close to your feet as you feel comfortable. Think of it as a fulcrum. The further out it is, the greater the effect of the weight of it on you.
Mick Evans.
Mick Evans.
Fishers Ghost
New member
I have had tennis elbow only twice in my liftime.
The first time was as a result of overdoing a specific exercise and I rested and massaged the arm for a few months before it healed.
The second time was due to metal detecting about 20 years ago. This time I continued to use the arm and massaged it regularly. it healed in about 6 or 7 months and I have never been troubled with it again, not even when swinging the Infinium.
Your body does adapt to regular continuous movement if you can work through the pain, but rest for a while when it becomes too much.
I will admit that I am one of those Body Heal thyself weirdos. I do consede though that at times it can do with a bit of assistance.
The first time was as a result of overdoing a specific exercise and I rested and massaged the arm for a few months before it healed.
The second time was due to metal detecting about 20 years ago. This time I continued to use the arm and massaged it regularly. it healed in about 6 or 7 months and I have never been troubled with it again, not even when swinging the Infinium.
Your body does adapt to regular continuous movement if you can work through the pain, but rest for a while when it becomes too much.
I will admit that I am one of those Body Heal thyself weirdos. I do consede though that at times it can do with a bit of assistance.
Sven
Well-known member
I have bad joints everywhere these days, sucks getting older.
If you want a topical creme to kill any pain this stuff is it period-------- Voltaren Gel
http://arthritis.about.com/od/topicalnsaids/a/voltaren_gel.htm
http://www.voltarengel.com/consumer/default.aspx
Next a tennis elbow prevention and to make it easy to detect with tennis elbow I'll use this item at work or play if I have to extend my elbow
to the point where the joint begins to hurts-----AIRCAST Band
If you want a topical creme to kill any pain this stuff is it period-------- Voltaren Gel
http://arthritis.about.com/od/topicalnsaids/a/voltaren_gel.htm
http://www.voltarengel.com/consumer/default.aspx
Next a tennis elbow prevention and to make it easy to detect with tennis elbow I'll use this item at work or play if I have to extend my elbow
to the point where the joint begins to hurts-----AIRCAST Band
Lots of good info in these posts...basically rest is the arm until it goes away...however these products do help.
Would suggest learning to swing with opposite hand which is not easy to learn for most....once the problem heals would suggest switching off hands...even a lighter detector won't help as if you swing a hickory stick for hours it can cause problems. Once the arm heals might suggest some exercises to strengten the arm which can prevent it from coming back...
Would suggest learning to swing with opposite hand which is not easy to learn for most....once the problem heals would suggest switching off hands...even a lighter detector won't help as if you swing a hickory stick for hours it can cause problems. Once the arm heals might suggest some exercises to strengten the arm which can prevent it from coming back...
gordygroover
New member
Yep...easy, smooth swinging on a pretty long hunt and I had the elbow thing for almost 9 months.
Easiest cure was simply switching arms, as was mentioned above. In a couple hunts you will not notice any difference in comfort and ability with whichever hand you hold the detector with.
Little things will be more annoying. Digging tools and other items may be harder to reach but so what?? For a pain free hunt for the rest of your life awkwardness far outweighs pain.
Easiest cure was simply switching arms, as was mentioned above. In a couple hunts you will not notice any difference in comfort and ability with whichever hand you hold the detector with.
Little things will be more annoying. Digging tools and other items may be harder to reach but so what?? For a pain free hunt for the rest of your life awkwardness far outweighs pain.
I had this problem about 15 years ago and it was not caused by swinging a metal detector. In my case it was way too many hours of fingering drills playing a brass music instrument along with long hours of sitting at the computer with my hand poised ready to click on the mouse. I solved part of that by switching the computer mouse to the left hand and the rest by doing a lot less of the fingering exercises. In both cases tension played a huge role. In this case, tension by trying to be ready to do something very quickly but having to wait until the exact time. If that makes any sense with the way I worded it 
I also wore the arm brace pictured in sven's post. It does help a lot. However as already mentioned, give it some rest because once it starts bothering a lot of unrelated things will be painful too.
I would also take a look at other things you do on a daily basis that you do over and over with suspicion. Tennis elbow is a repetitive stress injury.
Jerry
I also wore the arm brace pictured in sven's post. It does help a lot. However as already mentioned, give it some rest because once it starts bothering a lot of unrelated things will be painful too.
I would also take a look at other things you do on a daily basis that you do over and over with suspicion. Tennis elbow is a repetitive stress injury.
Jerry
TerraDigger
New member
Dan-Pa is correct. The treatment for tennis elbow (tendonitis) is complete rest of the affected area. I would resume detecting approx 3 weeks after all symptoms subside. Look up cold/heat treatment regimen on the Internet for tendonitis. You can apply as many topical substances as you want, but it will not help it heal. Only complete rest of the area will do that. Then I would seriously re-evaluate my swinging technique/machine as one or both are the culprits. I was a Navy medical corpsman, so I have experience in these matters.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Only my opinion.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Only my opinion.
Good point. I've not had tennis elbow but have experienced arm fatigue many times. Tried changing hands a few times but awkward and didn't last long and gave up on it. What I ended up doing was shortening up the shaft length which forces me to keep the tector in close to my body and directly in front of my feet as opposed to holding it out and away which seems to be the natural tendency for most people. It also helps me to keep my swing horizontal and eliminates any pendulum movements.Mick in Dubbo said:
Fisherfinder
Member
Finally something I am an expert in.
Tennis Elbow, aka, "epicondylitis", we are old friends.
Mine came from overwork.
I'm a toolmaker, at the time I was working for a large aircraft company and running my own small shop at night and on weekends.
The "exact" motion that puts this condition into overdrive is the motion of screwing in a screw with a screwdriver, and of course, reaching out and turning a door knob.
Anybody who says, "I used to have it", is in for a surprise, once you have had it, it's there, and it will jump in any time you over do it.
I bless my lucky stars that it has never reared its ugly head when I was detecting,
(I have felt a tiny something, but it didn't keep rolling)
I thought about this when this condition cropped up, first in my right elbow, and when I shifted more percent of work to my other arm, my left elbow. At one point I was wearing one of those plastic forearm bands on both arms.
It affected my driving, eating, drinking, combing my hair,....... I think you get it.
Treatment:
1) Always double check with your doctor before following up with advise from anyone.
2) When you experience the discomfort some of us know so well, "ICE" , there are even gel pack type cold packs that are tailored to fit the elbow joint, they secure with Velcro.
Ice the,(I don't know the rules here for swearing), "living daylights" out of the area that the pain is emanating from.
3) An anti inflammatory medication is often prescribed by your doctor, often it is Motrin, (Ibuprofen).
My doctor told me to save my money and use the over the counter Motrin-IB. they are 100mg, the amount the doctor recommends is 400mg. So you take 4 of the Motrin-IB, how often I don't recall, ask your doctor.
4) Rest and non-use are a big part of getting a flare up to "cool down", I mean that, your elbow actually feels "Hot" to the touch.
The reason is the epicondyl tendon is "inflamed", and if you don't stop what you did to bring it on, it will get worse, and worse, and worse.
Note: We are all pretty handy guys here I am guessing so here is the deal.............
The epicondyl tendon runs through a "Sheath" much like a brake cable for a bicycle. Except there is not a lot of clearance, it's a pretty close fit.
Now for a comparison..... You have a dowel pin or a drill blank and a drill bushing or precision ring that is just a very small amount bigger in the bore. The two are such a close fit that when you invert the the pair when mated the pin stays put, you have to use your thumb to move it back and forth.
Now heat the pair while they are assembled, boiling water, leave them in the sun on a hot day, or let you soldering iron have a go at it.
The result, two things, the inner member grew in size as did the ring.
But you see when a ring is heated it expands in all directions, the outside diameter grows and "The inside diameter shrinks".
And the you have the reason for the condition epicondylitis. And how it can become a never ending cycle of discomfort.
Due to over use the tendon becomes inflamed, it gets hot, swollen and grows. This begins to irritate the tendon sheath, it get hot, swollen, and grows, this narrows the sheath which causes friction, the friction causes irritation, the irritation causes inflammation, and round and round we go.
The tendon gets more and more irritated and inflamed, and the sheath does the same, the "Fit" becomes tighter and tighter for lack of a better term, which just causes more swelling, and back around we go.
A doctor may choose to give the offending tendon a cortisone injection, then prescribe an anti inflammatory, and instructions to limit the use to minimum, and apply plenty of ice several times a day.
If you fight this battle once you have to change the way you do things for life.
You have to work smarter not harder.
I know more about this condition, but I think I said enough.
One last thing, this condition can Very Much affect someone that has detecting for a hobby.
.
Tennis Elbow, aka, "epicondylitis", we are old friends.
Mine came from overwork.
I'm a toolmaker, at the time I was working for a large aircraft company and running my own small shop at night and on weekends.
The "exact" motion that puts this condition into overdrive is the motion of screwing in a screw with a screwdriver, and of course, reaching out and turning a door knob.
Anybody who says, "I used to have it", is in for a surprise, once you have had it, it's there, and it will jump in any time you over do it.
I bless my lucky stars that it has never reared its ugly head when I was detecting,
(I have felt a tiny something, but it didn't keep rolling)
I thought about this when this condition cropped up, first in my right elbow, and when I shifted more percent of work to my other arm, my left elbow. At one point I was wearing one of those plastic forearm bands on both arms.
It affected my driving, eating, drinking, combing my hair,....... I think you get it.
Treatment:
1) Always double check with your doctor before following up with advise from anyone.
2) When you experience the discomfort some of us know so well, "ICE" , there are even gel pack type cold packs that are tailored to fit the elbow joint, they secure with Velcro.
Ice the,(I don't know the rules here for swearing), "living daylights" out of the area that the pain is emanating from.
3) An anti inflammatory medication is often prescribed by your doctor, often it is Motrin, (Ibuprofen).
My doctor told me to save my money and use the over the counter Motrin-IB. they are 100mg, the amount the doctor recommends is 400mg. So you take 4 of the Motrin-IB, how often I don't recall, ask your doctor.
4) Rest and non-use are a big part of getting a flare up to "cool down", I mean that, your elbow actually feels "Hot" to the touch.
The reason is the epicondyl tendon is "inflamed", and if you don't stop what you did to bring it on, it will get worse, and worse, and worse.
Note: We are all pretty handy guys here I am guessing so here is the deal.............
The epicondyl tendon runs through a "Sheath" much like a brake cable for a bicycle. Except there is not a lot of clearance, it's a pretty close fit.
Now for a comparison..... You have a dowel pin or a drill blank and a drill bushing or precision ring that is just a very small amount bigger in the bore. The two are such a close fit that when you invert the the pair when mated the pin stays put, you have to use your thumb to move it back and forth.
Now heat the pair while they are assembled, boiling water, leave them in the sun on a hot day, or let you soldering iron have a go at it.
The result, two things, the inner member grew in size as did the ring.
But you see when a ring is heated it expands in all directions, the outside diameter grows and "The inside diameter shrinks".
And the you have the reason for the condition epicondylitis. And how it can become a never ending cycle of discomfort.
Due to over use the tendon becomes inflamed, it gets hot, swollen and grows. This begins to irritate the tendon sheath, it get hot, swollen, and grows, this narrows the sheath which causes friction, the friction causes irritation, the irritation causes inflammation, and round and round we go.
The tendon gets more and more irritated and inflamed, and the sheath does the same, the "Fit" becomes tighter and tighter for lack of a better term, which just causes more swelling, and back around we go.
A doctor may choose to give the offending tendon a cortisone injection, then prescribe an anti inflammatory, and instructions to limit the use to minimum, and apply plenty of ice several times a day.
If you fight this battle once you have to change the way you do things for life.
You have to work smarter not harder.
I know more about this condition, but I think I said enough.
One last thing, this condition can Very Much affect someone that has detecting for a hobby.
.