Tennis Elbow

[Dave the dog]

After suffering with tennis elbow for a couple of years and 3 or 4 cortazone injections and the neoprine supports I went to my GP who referred me to a specialist, i went for surgery and have had no problems since .Thank God for private health insurance!

[Albedo]

In my experience marc and rich have the answer and all those who say rest it.

 

I had it when I was subbing in uk, if you mean something a bit ripped in elbow.

 

In NZ for a year it was all MEWPS, traffic control and chipper feeding, and even watching others work as there were often 4 - 6 of us on site. This supplied enough rest for it to heal.

 

Since back in UK, I'm a one man band - climber groundie and everything on me tod, except occasional freelancers helping, and it hasn't come back yet.

 

My conclusion is that climbing caused it on a john hancock shuffle (john's fault in fact) up an impossible to climb ash tree, and not climbing (much) for months fixed it. No doctor consulted as I'm a hard northener and only southerners go to the doctor.

[Stephen Blair]

look at it this way. if you told us you are hitting your right hand with a hammer that is in your left and it is really sore, the obvious thing would be to stop hitting it.

if you then said i have to because if i stop i cant pay the bills. swap the hammer into the other hand and keep going till that gets really sore and alternate doing this until you find a solution to the problem.ie get someone else to share the workload or cut back. i am not trying to be smart or sarcy, but this job is sore on the body. as i talk to you now i am sitting on a giant bouncy ball to keep my posture straight, not shorten my hamstrings, and try and work on some core stability.everything that has been said is on the right track. but you have to think of the future and look after your body mate.

[Marc]

look at it this way. if you told us you are hitting your right hand with a hammer that is in your left and it is really sore, the obvious thing would be to stop hitting it.

if you then said i have to because if i stop i cant pay the bills. swap the hammer into the other hand and keep going till that gets really sore and alternate doing this until you find a solution to the problem.ie get someone else to share the workload or cut back. i am not trying to be smart or sarcy, but this job is sore on the body. as i talk to you now i am sitting on a giant bouncy ball to keep my posture straight, not shorten my hamstrings, and try and work on some core stability.everything that has been said is on the right track. but you have to think of the future and look after your body mate.

 

Yes we do a hard job, of that there is no doubt, the point i was trying to make is with all the kit now availible to us, modern climbing techniques and smarter working it is becoming easier to extend your career as a climber/treeworker without causing yourself to much longterm physical damage.

I find climbing a fairly easy even using big saws (66's and 88's are a little harrder) its groundwork thats a killer for me as I have not yet found an effcient and quicker way of dragging brush without actually dragging it.

Unless you got one of these

[Mr Ed]

pain is your body telling you something.

 

Pain is your bodies way of telling you that it is already mending!

 

PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING YOUR BODY.

 

 

Not got tennis elbow, but I did knock my right elbow about 6 months ago, and now its permanently swollen with bad fluid retention.

[Bodean]

Marc, Is spot on. (like a different language)

 

Changing your knot from a tautline/blakes/one eye'd split tail to

an eye and eye split tail and using something like a VT or Knut/tended knot

saves and distributes the elbow forces you are feeling.

 

Repetitive motion stresses turn into plaguing injuries.

 

Change it up. Stretch it out. Stay Warm.

[Bodean]

I did knock my right elbow about 6 months ago, and now its permanently swollen with bad fluid retention.

 

We call that Swellbow, or Bursitis, takes along time.

 

But Hey, You can't get better unless you're hurt.

[Mick Stockbridge]

If you cant afford to rest, ask youre doctor for Diclofenac Sodium. Its an anti inflammatory and pain killer in one.

[MattyF]

looking forward to a weeks rest,changing my style of climbing to a vt has seriuosly helped mine unfortunietly chucking out timber from trees and splitting tons of fire wood with a maul and hundreds of metres of cut and chuck leylandii hedging this year has not!... i would not have one of those cortazone injections though know too many people its ruined or made it worse

[skyhuck]

i would not have one of those cortazone injections though know too many people its ruined or made it worse

 

Totally agree!!!

 

I tend to avoid doctors altogether, they even call it "practicing" medicine well they can practice on someone else

 

I often think they do more harm than good!!