training with tendonitis?

[terraj]

Gents,

I have some tendonitis in my patellar and tricep tendonitis at the elbow.

I use wraps or straps and ice afterwards and the tendonitis has not gotten any worse. It's not hurting my workouts at all and I still have been lifting heavy weight.

My concern is if I keep training do I risk tendon degeneration leading to a tear or rupture.....

[CMonkey]

I too am training with tricep tendonitis and have it in my forearms too. I started taping my wrists and have been using a cream called Penetrex. The cream doesn't mask the pain, it is supposed to help heal it, seems to have worked for me. It took about 10 days and I have absolutely no more pain in either location.

As far as rupturing or tearing, I would have to say yes. Alot depends on how long you have had it. The longer you go without letting it heal, the higher the chance of a rupture.

Just my 2 cents.

[terraj]

I too am training with tricep tendonitis and have it in my forearms too. I started taping my wrists and have been using a cream called Penetrex. The cream doesn't mask the pain, it is supposed to help heal it, seems to have worked for me. It took about 10 days and I have absolutely no more pain in either location.

As far as rupturing or tearing, I would have to say yes. Alot depends on how long you have had it. The longer you go without letting it heal, the higher the chance of a rupture.

Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, I know the body needs break...

I did try a 3 week break for legs, but it came back after a workout...guess the patellar tendons are quiet thick and therefore would take a while to heal.

[cherrydrpepper]

Hey terraj Im taking 3 weeks off from all push exercises to let my tricep tendonitis heal. When I come back I plan to use two sleeves and possibly DMSO while im at home (just ordered some).

I just finished doing some research on joint supps and came up with this list I saved in a file. I have sources and quotations for them all. I am already taking most of them but plan on checking out cissus and celadrin

1. Glucosamine Chondroitin

2. Fish Oil

3. Cissus Quadrangularis

4. MSM Methylsulfonylmethane

5. Hyaluronic Acid

6. Celadrin

7. Calcium

8. Vitamin D

9. Zinc*
*Overdose can be detrimental; The recommended RDA for Zinc is 15 mg/day for men and 12 mg/day for women.

10. Manganese**
**Manganese is well-tolerated and is believed to be non-toxic at doses equal to or less than 11mg daily. It is not well-tolerated at doses above 11mg daily.

11. Magnesium***
***I recommend getting this in a multi or monitoring intake closely because if you take too much it can result in kidney failure. Signs of excess magnesium can be similar to magnesium deficiency and include mental status changes, nausea, diarrhea, appetite loss, muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, extremely low blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat. The RDA for men is between 400 and 420 mg a day depending on age. The recommended amount for women is between 310 and 400 mg a day depending on age and if pregnant.

[Times Roman]

4. MSM Methylsulfonylmethane

The one that really seems to make a difference, to me anyways, is the MSM. Loading phase = 10gms/day x 2 weeks. Maintenance phase = min. 5gms/day x forever. I've been staying at 10gms/day for a few months now, and somehow I'm thinking the cartelidge in my knees may be regrowing? Haven't tested that theory with an MRI, but they feel great!

[sean_holland]

My elbow, forearm hurts on a regular basis. I've tried taking time off, I've tried Ice/Heat, I've tried anti-inflammatory. Nothing seems to work. Its a deteriorating injury...I just power through it.

If it snaps on me one day, F it i'll get some surgery.

I wish I knew the answer for you, I'd use it myself. I might get a wrap, I might not. It doesn't effect the lifts and once I get warm the injury seems to fade from the pump.

I do try and use less palm down movements as that seems to be an aggravating factor. So I do underhand rows, etc.

[shortybrolick]

Im still training with tendonitis as well.. Recently i got sick and took 5 days off .. and while off I noticed the tendonitis much more. It was more of an anoyance , i could feel the stiffness and restricted range of motion much more..

Sorry I don't have an answer for you Terraj.

[goodlifting]

Gents,

I have some tendonitis in my patellar and tricep tendonitis at the elbow.

I use wraps or straps and ice afterwards and the tendonitis has not gotten any worse. It's not hurting my workouts at all and I still have been lifting heavy weight.

My concern is if I keep training do I risk tendon degeneration leading to a tear or rupture.....

maybe not for your tricep but i definitely have some input for the patellar tendonitis. i dealt with my own severe case of tendonosis in that tendon for about a year. prior to that i had patellar tendonITIS for a year. i spent an abundance of time researching the injury and trying to figure out a way to get it back to normal.

at its worse, my tendonosis kept me from walking without a limp and i felt a near rupture sensation if i even thought about squatting. by the way it developed in both of my knees eventually. i had no idea what the hell it was at first and kept training like a mad man (this is what got it to the point of tendonosis or degeneration of the dense regular cartilage in the tendon).

at the time i was training for olympic weightlifting specifically. the heavy weight, explosive movements, and shitty guidance of retarded coaches were the factors that tore me up so bad. i was overtraining.

i had ultra sound imaging done on my patellar tendons to physically see the damage. it was overwhelmingly obvious where the degeneration was in the cartilage. there were huge dark spots that indicated irregular formation of the "strands" in my tendon.

after studying and contimplating the reasons why my tendons were so fvcked up i decided to completely change the way i trained my legs and my body at the time. switching from explosive movements to more slow and deliberate movements like light, deep squats helped the situation. my goal was to stop tearing up the tendons, stop the degeration of the tendon, and assist my body in repairing the tissue back to its proper formation (in other words repair the irregular spots on the tendon by stretching the strands back into their proper formation in the tendons).

presently, my patellar tendons never bother me. i have a 385lb squat for a double at 170lb body weight (and i mean ass to my calves). because my tendons were at the point of TENDONOSIS, there is still obvious thickening of the tendons in the spots where there was degeneration. that is the only scaring i have from my injuries. it took about a year of laying off and aggressively focusing on my self-prescibed physical therapy. but my strength is still coming back and im able to continue getting stronger.

since your tendonitis is only that right now (TENDONITIS and not TENDONOSIS) i would suggest really focusing on repairing it now. tendonitis does not take nearly as long as tendonosis to heal.

if you have any other questions let me know. i hate to see other athletes go through what i did.

[terraj]

Thanks fellas

[MARUSXXX]

Gents,

I have some tendonitis in my patellar and tricep tendonitis at the elbow.

I use wraps or straps and ice afterwards and the tendonitis has not gotten any worse. It's not hurting my workouts at all and I still have been lifting heavy weight.

My concern is if I keep training do I risk tendon degeneration leading to a tear or rupture.....

I was lifting with really bad tennis elbow. I hAd gone through therapy and received three cortisone shots for it. Each lasting about six months or so. Point is is you keep lifting with the tendinitis you are creating scar tissue and will be that much harder to heal. I would ease up for a while, maybe talk to an ortho for possible solutions to help you heal. Mine got so bad that I just very recently had tennis elbow surgery. I hope yours gets better for tendinitis is a real bitch.

[sprinter911]

I had tendonitis of my extensor tendons where your forearm meets your elbow (distal side). Doc Rx'd me anti-inflamatory and it really worked. Took a couple of months but no PT needed. I had to change my training while it healed. No hammer curls, only curls with the palm in the supine position. Tendonitis is not fun just be careful not to make it worse or you'll be facing a chronic condition.

--Sprint

[Times Roman]

I'm still nursing a stinger in my left forearm. Prevents me from curling. I think it's been 10 weeks? I've completely stopped the curls. Trying to compensate with other exercises, but arms are shrinking. Stinger seems to be getting better. I'm probably going to let it go another couple of weeks before I try curling again, but very lightly. Sometimes you just gotta let these things rest. (but no more winnie for me!)

[heyyallsup]

Im still training with tendonitis as well.. Recently i got sick and took 5 days off .. and while off I noticed the tendonitis much more. It was more of an anoyance , i could feel the stiffness and restricted range of motion much more..

Sorry I don't have an answer for you Terraj.

I've noticed that my tendonitis does that too. If I work out, it does not feel too bad, but if I leave it alone, it flares up! Do you know why it does that, because I don't understand it.

After studying and contimplating the reasons why my tendons were so fvcked up i decided to completely change the way i trained my legs and my body at the time. switching from explosive movements to more slow and deliberate movements like light, deep squats helped the situation. my goal was to stop tearing up the tendons, stop the degeration of the tendon, and assist my body in repairing the tissue back to its proper formation (in other words repair the irregular spots on the tendon by stretching the strands back into their proper formation in the tendons).

presently, my patellar tendons never bother me. i have a 385lb squat for a double at 170lb body weight (and i mean ass to my calves). because my tendons were at the point of TENDONOSIS, there is still obvious thickening of the tendons in the spots where there was degeneration. that is the only scaring i have from my injuries. it took about a year of laying off and aggressively focusing on my self-prescibed physical therapy. but my strength is still coming back and im able to continue getting stronger.

since your tendonitis is only that right now (TENDONITIS and not TENDONOSIS) i would suggest really focusing on repairing it now. tendonitis does not take nearly as long as tendonosis to heal.

if you have any other questions let me know. i hate to see other athletes go through what i did.

So any direct suggestions about "self-prescibed physical therapy" for those of us with tendonitis? Or any websites that were particularly useful to you?

[goodlifting]

tendonitis is the acute "version" of tendonosis. you can have it healed and recovered to full strength relatively quickly.

resting the body part from movements that further irritate the tendon is important right off the bat. put time into massaging the tendon and the surrounding muscles that are giving you trouble. i found that stretching and loosening the muscles that are connected to the tendon gave some relief from the pain and also quickened the recovery time.

some believe that icing the area of tendonitis is beneficial for lowing inflammation. this is absolutely true but you are dealing with an irritated tendon. tendons have a lack of blood supply (when you compare them to muscle tissue) so icing is going to further the lack of blood and potential nutrients the tendon needs to heal. i have found that focusing on direct stretching and massage will limit the recovery time rather than keeping the tendon on ice.

you should be able to have the tendon fully recovered and ready for GRADUAL increase in training for the body part in a matter of weeks.

i suggest getting on this as soon as possible. otherwise, further irratation to the tendon can lead to tendonosis (the chronic "version" of tendonitis) which is extremely painful, difficult to recover from, and would absolutely take at least a year to heal with permanent scarring in the fibrous tissue.

[heyyallsup]

This was an excellent thread! Thanks everyone for sharing!
I've taken some of the advice here to heart, and I think it's working.

Just gotta be patient now!