Tennis Elbow Cause and Aggrevation

[fiddler37]

Have any of you experienced tennis elbow type symtoms in the left arm brought on or aggrevated by mandolin playing? I have had this about 2 months, a general steroid shot about a month ago (but not in the elbow) that did a miracle for about 36 hours. I have also done a couple of recommended exercises. I do not feel that playing melody is a problem but 4 finger chords (for chop) might be. I did lay off playing completely for a week and did not notice any difference. I have a pressure arm band that fits on the arm under the elbow, and play golf about once a week which probably does not help either. I have also developed a slight "trigger thumb" on the left hand in the last 2 weeks.

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

[Paul Busman]

(I have a great tennis elbow joke, but this is a family forum...) :-D

[Josh Kaplan]

Oh, yes. You will find many threads here, including this one.

One week off, unfortunately, isn't enough to heal the inflammation. Once the pain subsides, you can start flexibility and strengthening exercises, but you may also need to review and adjust the way you hold and fret the instrument.

This is a good place to start with that:



-Josh

[Vernon Hughes]

I went through that awhile back and experimented with my strap length as a last resort..I brought it up closer and the pain went away,at least while playing..

[dcoventry]

I squeeze a tennis ball all through the day as I sit around in meetings and what not. It's easy to carry around and becomes a great conversation piece. I squeeze with my 4 fingers and thumb, three fingers and thumb, 2 and thumb and lastly just my pinky and thumb. Also, try rotating your wrist with open part of your fist facing down while you squeeze. This strengthens the hand and forearm to alleviate the "tennis elbow" issues. Plus it helps in fretting and chording issues!

[Mike Scott]

I hate to be a doomsayer, but I have had tennis elbow in both elbows. It was worse in the right (brought on by playing too much tennis actually) agravated by finger picking guitar - took 3 years to get rid of. The left was better-about 9 months-no idea of where it came from. There are a myriad of exercises, but the best thing (for me) was one of those straps that went around your forearm. I got the one with magnets in it (who knows if that made a difference. I could see where 4 finger chords would agravate it. Maybe stick with the 3 finger chords for a while. Heat prior to playing followed by ice afterward also helped. Good luck - its just tendonitis, but quite painful!

[Josh Kaplan]

Over the last 40 years, I have had a couple of minor cases of this (one from tennis and the other as a new mandolin player) and one bad one (from fencing), all from overuse. 40 years ago, it got better by itself, but I don't heal as fast these days! The bad one (11 years ago) didn't get better by itself, but physical therapy worked great. It included deep friction massage, an anti-inflamitory cream applied with infrared, and iontophoresis. With the most recent one, from the mandolin, I was able to catch it before it got really bad and was able to turn it around. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to let the inflamation heal before you do the strenthening and flexibility exercises--if it hurts, you are not helping it get better. But this exercise really did help me.

Josh

[Tom C]

As my Dr told me.... "take golf lessons"

[Jim Garber]

First of all tennis elbow is not actually in the elbow itself. I am also a little confused by this:

I have a pressure arm band that fits on the arm under the elbow

I am sure that you know what you are doing but are merely describing it wrong. The muscle I had problems with with tennis elbow (actually caused by tennis) is this one is a little ways down the arm from the elbow and on the top:



I would highly suggest changing the way you are playing, I have been playing mandolin for well over 30 years and never had any problems with chop chords. I have a feeling you are either putting way too much pressure on the neck or on your grip. Myabe take some lessons with a good teacher who can guide you away from whatever bad habits you have. I hope you get thru it and better soon. There are some good ideas for exercise above too like the squeeze etc.

[Ken Sager]

Yes, I've experienced this and I was left with what felt like a foot for a hand. It took a few months of rest, ibuprofin, and sleeping with a straight wrist brace, and icing it to go away. Then I took a serious look at what caused it and how to avoid it in the future. I ultimately attributed it to tension in my left hand/wrist from an uncomfortable neck shape. The shape forced me to grip harder than normal lower in my hand and that extra tension coupled with the finger motion caused the inflamation of the tendons from my wrist to my elbow. I'm in good shape since figuring it all out and finding another mandolin -- I've been playing pain-free since early 2008.

As Jim suggests it might be the way you're playing, but it could be more specifically the way you're playing your particular mandolin, or there could be something else going on, too. Keep working with your doc, but look at where you're creating tension.

I hope you find some relief and can play comfortably again.

Best,
Ken

[Dagger Gordon]

I occasionally have similar problems. I find that guitar playing is actually a bigger problem because I would angle my arm differently. Mandolin isn't so bad. So if you also play guitar (and perhaps you don't), I suggest you stop for a while.
As others have said, you should then review how you hold your mandolin. I find it's better if your fretting arm is held closer to your body.

[Scotti Adams]

Dont have it in the left elbow but rather the right. I get a Cortizone shot ever so often. The last shot I had about a month ago busted thru so scar tissue..man..that hurt. Doc said hopefully now I wont have any more problems.