Bow arm tendonitis...HELP! And read this so you don't end up like me.

[Sam McMichael]

I developed it in both elbows. Therapy did not help, only resting it made it better. Also, I stopped shooting as heavy a bow as before. When it starts feeling a little sore, STOP - or else it will get really sore again really fast. For another neat trick, I tried to move my bow hand more to the side, rather than on the base of the hand as you normally hold a Hill style bow. That resulted in tendonitis in by thumb. So far that has been a bigger problem than the elbows. Don't mess around and try to train through the pain. Rest it and build back up carefully.

[Marty Wiseman]

I am not a doctor nor do I work in the medical field, however I have had Tennis elbow myself in the past, but it wasn't due to archery, it was from actually playing Tennis.  

    First, you have to identify which injury you have.  If it's on the inside part of the elbow then it is known as "golfers" elbow.  If it is on the outside part of the arm, that's tennis elbow.  There are a couple of ways to go about treating the injury.  First you needed to stop what you were doing and allow the area to heal and it sounds like you did that.  

Some people opt to go to a Doctor which will do one of a couple of things.  He can prescribe anti inflammatories, a pill.  These serve to bring down the inflammation in the tendon and with time off allow it to heal.  The only problem with these drugs is that there IS some side effects and it is not a long term fix.  The Dr. could also give you a cortisone shot.  These shots work by destroying tissue.  The tendon is inflamed and scarred and the cortisone shot works by destroying the inflamed area and scarring.  

I personally did not want the cortisone.  Maybe one shot wouldn't do too much harm but anymore than that I can see it destroying tissue that should NOT be destroyed.  I just did not like the idea.  

Physical Therapy is another, more long term solution (more on that later.)

Another option, and one that might get me flamed like crazy here, is acupuncture.  It is an alternative medicine and therefore controversial.  This was an alternative which was acceptable to me, however.  My tendonitis was so bad that I was starting to lose feeling in my arm from my elbow down.  I was told that the tendon in my elbow was so bad that the tendon was pinching the nerves going to my lower arm.    I went to a chiropractor (another controversial decision) that practiced acupuncture.  I underwent three treatments a week for about three weeks, then went to once a week for a while.  My elbow over that time began to get MUCH better.  I had already cut way back on the activity that was causing the problem, but I didn’t stop playing and yet still I got better.  It worked for me, that’s all I can say.  The draw back is if you don’t like needles, even though there is not really any pain involved, then it’s not for you.  

*Physical Therapy / exercises.  
 These can help strengthen and stretch the elbow to help heal the elbow and also strengthen it so you don’t injure it again.  
Here are a few exercises you can do to help.  First, stand with your injured arm straight out in front of you and make a fist.  Slowly take your fist and point it toward the floor, keeping your arm straight, as if you were going to punch someone with the back of your hand.  You will feel it stretch the outside of your elbow.  Hold the position a few seconds, and then recover, doing this a few times, twice a day.  

There are other exercises you can do, to strengthen the area like twisting.  Take a bath towel and roll it up and hold it out in front of you a bit, then TWIST the towel as if you were wringing out a wet towel.  

Get a tennis ball and squeeze the ball with your hand…..this helps strengthen the elbow.  

These are just a few tips to help with an injured elbow.  The information on the exercises came from a brochure from the Syntex Sports Injury information center.  You may want to talk it over with your doctor before doing the exercises.  I  hoped this helped and good luck with your shooting!