Elbow Pain

[Coach Jones]

I am a right handed shooter.  For the last week I have been having pain in my left elbow area, so bad to the point that I am going to take a week off.  Anyone else experience this?

[T Folts]

Yes I have, tennis elbow. Mine took almost a year to heal. Good luck.

[Stinger]

Yep, off and on.  You ought to see a doctor for a real diagnosis.  For me, it was tendonitis.  Often called "tennis elbow".  When you start to hurt, your body is telling you to stop doing what makes it hurt.  So stop for a while.  You might also find that one bow will make it hurt worse than another.  I have a Silvertip I'm thinking about selling because it hurts me frequently.

[Coach Jones]

30 years in archery, and shoot traditional on and off, and I have never had any issues.  I was thinking maybe it was just this new bow.

[30coupe]

Some bows bother me and some don't. The current crop in my signature don't tend to, except for the hickory longbow if I shoot it a lot. Heavy arrows help take some of the shock out of whatever bow you shoot. They all have some; some have lots! Your hand position on the bow (low wrist, medium wrist, or high wrist) can also make a difference. Is your new bow different in that regard?

[JRY309]

Go see your doctor and get his opinion.I had tennis elbow and my doctor said get an elbow brace.An elbow brace will help with the pain.Then I looked up Physical Therapy exercises for tennis elbow.I wore the brace when shooting and used ice and rest and did the exercises.It cleared up after a couple of months.Still do the exercises,it will help strengthen your forearm.That was about 3 years ago,have had any more problems.

[Sam McMichael]

Sounds like tendonitis. I have it in both elbows, but it has not flared up in quite a while. Follow the doctor's orders and do the Physical Therapy faithfully. Steroid shots helped, also. You may need to rest it for a while, possibly a long while. Good luck.

[Geezer]

I posted a similar question a month or so ago in the Shooters Form Forum.  The advice I received is much like what you are getting here now.  Some say Tendonitis, and there is another thread here today that discusses Bursitis.  My experience is that I was exercising repetitively (using a heavy ball too much) and that caused inflammation in my left elbow. I also found that my bow string had stretched about 1/4" and the hand shock was pretty severe.  I twisted my string to a proper brace height, quit doing the repetitive exercising, iced it, plenty of Tylenol and rested the arm.  I've started shooting again and it does feel much better.  Probably the best thing you can do is visit your doctor.