Archers elbow / epicondilytus

[Missouri Bowman]

I've had it in the past and what works for me is grip/hand exercises. When I watched tv or just not doing much I would do them and my elbow was back to normal. This worked for me on three occasions in about 3-4 weeks.

[ncsaknech1ydh]

Same as above as far as elbow brace (stretch type for tennis elbow) and exercise and stretch before shooting, I also dropped down in Bow weight for awhile shooting one of my lighter bows, the problem started for me last summer and after doing all of the above it was gone in about a month and have had no problems since. Of coarse the sooner you do the above the better. You might want to take a break altogether for a week or two to give your elbow a rest if its on the bad side, or switch to every few days as far as shooting goes for awhile.

[STEVE R.]

if you shoot a long bow stop shooting it. I had friends who has to stop shooting their longbows for the same reason. They shoot very smooth shooting recurves.(not all recurves are smooth) but they have less shock than longbows,

[Flying Dutchman]

Not all longbows have handshock, and not all archers have epicondilytus in their bowarm. I have it in my string-arm and that has nothing ot do with a possible handshock.
Modern longbows are as smooth to shoot as any recurve.

[katman]

Have had lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) once and medial epicondylitis (archers/golfers elbow) twice, on the draw arm. First go round with each not to bad, second time with medail tore it hitting a drive and dropped me to my knees. No bow shooting or golf for 6 weeks until the inflamation was gone.
 
Treatment was initially rest, ice, nsaids (motrin), elbow band. Required cortisone injection to quiet it down, then gentle stretching and strengthening. Been 1 1/2 years and still wear the brace shooting and golfing just in case.

I attribute mine to increasing the amount of shooting the bow to quickly and using a glove. Now I use a tab and dropped bow weight. If I shoot a little with a glove I can feel it in the arm/elbow, not so with the tab.

[Three Finger]

I am having the same problem with my left elbow. The one I hold the bow with. My forearm is killing me. I may just have to take some time off from shooting. I am going to try a little of all of these methods. Thanks for starting this tread.

[Lechwe]

I've had lateral epicondylitis as well in both elbows. Go to the Dr. and have it evaluated. I did therapy and then shots. Once the pain was under control then I could work with the strength exercises and keep it away. I would definitely stop shooting until I got it under control though.

Good luck

[xtrema312]

I got real bad a few years ago in my bow arm, left elbow.  It got so bad my whole arm was acting up from my wrist to my shoulder.  It took some doing, but I got it out.  Now I watch out for overdoing with that elbow, and it will pop from time to time.  At the Kzoo expo I shot a bunch of D LB's and got it going again.  Then my right elbow, string hand, all of a sudden started bothering me.  I got the left, bow arm elbow, about all healed up now with doing my exercises and taking it easy for a while, but the same process didn’t help my right one at all.  I have no idea what I did to the right one to get it going, but I am still having a lot of problems with it.  I started PT last week.  It is up and down right now.  Funny it doesn’t hurt a bit to shoot, and feels better after shooting, but the next day it seems to be a little worse.  
I have always been told ice is for the initial injury and doesn’t help after the initial injury unless you are using it after working it with therapy exercises and stretches.  Then it can help keep swelling down after aggravating it with the activity.  Then only to keep the swelling out and only one application.  I have been told that just putting ice on it a lot can cause a reduction in circulations.  It is the lack of circulation in the connective tissue due to lack of blood flow in those tissues that makes them so hard to get the inflammation out so you don’t want to shut down the  circulation by over icing it.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by xtrema312:
I got real bad a few years ago in my bow arm, left elbow.  It got so bad my whole arm was acting up from my wrist to my shoulder.  It took some doing, but I got it out.  Now I watch out for overdoing with that elbow, and it will pop from time to time.  At the Kzoo expo I shot a bunch of D LB's and got it going again.  Then my right elbow, string hand, all of a sudden started bothering me.  I got the left, bow arm elbow, about all healed up now with doing my exercises and taking it easy for a while, but the same process didn’t help my right one at all.  I have no idea what I did to the right one to get it going, but I am still having a lot of problems with it.  I started PT last week.  It is up and down right now.  Funny it doesn’t hurt a bit to shoot, and feels better after shooting, but the next day it seems to be a little worse.  
I have always been told ice is for the initial injury and doesn’t help after the initial injury unless you are using it after working it with therapy exercises and stretches.  Then it can help keep swelling down after aggravating it with the activity.  Then only to keep the swelling out and only one application.  I have been told that just putting ice on it a lot can cause a reduction in circulations.  It is the lack of circulation in the connective tissue due to lack of blood flow in those tissues that makes them so hard to get the inflammation out so you don’t want to shut down the  circulation by over icing it.

Actually, it is this slowing of the circulation that will yake the inflammation away---this is why doctors always say "No heat" on this type of injury.
 We deal with these types of injuries regularly over in the fieldhouse, and with a proper ice regimen and some type of support(athletic tape works great), we are able to make the malady go away. Trick to it, don't just quit using the joint that hurts, tone it down some, but don't just lay up. Ice and turpentine, tape, and git'er dun. Ask your doctor.

[bartcanoe]

I had it last year, and kept trying to shoot and ending up taking months off.

Someone already said it, but the best thing for me to prevent a reoccurence has been doing grip exercises.

[David Bartholomew]

Dustin,

If you feel I can help, feel free to give me a shout.  I'll reply with my phone number.

David

[xtrema312]

Originally posted by Spectre:

Actually, it is this slowing of the circulation that will yake the inflammation away---this is why doctors always say "No heat" on this type of injury.
 We deal with these types of injuries regularly over in the fieldhouse, and with a proper ice regimen and some type of support(athletic tape works great), we are able to make the malady go away. Trick to it, don't just quit using the joint that hurts, tone it down some, but don't just lay up. Ice and turpentine, tape, and git'er dun. Ask your doctor. [/b][/QUOTE]

My info is according to the doctors, chiropractor, and a half dozen physical therapists I have worked with on several longer term issues like tennis elbow, bad knees and the like.  That is what I have been told, but I am not an expert.  I just pay a lot to those who are supposed to be experts.  However, I really have concern with experts who make you sign a waiver so you can’t hold them responsible if you end up messed up.  

There is a big difference between working with injuries at the time of the injury and chronic issues.  On joints I have always been told cold the first 48 hours after the injury to keep as much inflammation, and swelling out as possible.  Tape helps keep the swelling down by restricting the tissue expansion.  There is a difference between keeping inflammation out using ice and getting it out after it has set in longer term.  

I have always been told to warm up an injury and increase circulation before working it and cold to keep the swelling out after use.  Heat more for muscle stuff than connective tissues, but a warm up before working any injury is standard.  Your body can’t remove inflammation once set in if it can’t carry it away from the injury site so you need good circulation to the injury.  I have been told that the massaging and ultra sound of connective tissue injuries, often done by therapists before working an injury, is to break up the inflammation and get it moving so the body can carry it away.

[tarponnut]

I got it from fly casting(casting lessons, guiding, fishing). It was terrible. I couldn't cast, shoot, and even teaching school hurt when I drew at the board.
I went to the doctor and got a cotisone shot and rested it, worked like a charm.Now I just take Aleve(the wonder drug)when it flares up, which is rare.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by xtrema312:
 

Originally posted by Spectre:

Actually, it is this slowing of the circulation that will yake the inflammation away---this is why doctors always say "No heat" on this type of injury.
 We deal with these types of injuries regularly over in the fieldhouse, and with a proper ice regimen and some type of support(athletic tape works great), we are able to make the malady go away. Trick to it, don't just quit using the joint that hurts, tone it down some, but don't just lay up. Ice and turpentine, tape, and git'er dun. Ask your doctor. [/b]

My info is according to the doctors, chiropractor, and a half dozen physical therapists I have worked with on several longer term issues like tennis elbow, bad knees and the like.  That is what I have been told, but I am not an expert.  I just pay a lot to those who are supposed to be experts.  However, I really have concern with experts who make you sign a waiver so you can’t hold them responsible if you end up messed up.  

There is a big difference between working with injuries at the time of the injury and chronic issues.  On joints I have always been told cold the first 48 hours after the injury to keep as much inflammation, and swelling out as possible.  Tape helps keep the swelling down by restricting the tissue expansion.  There is a difference between keeping inflammation out using ice and getting it out after it has set in longer term.  

I have always been told to warm up an injury and increase circulation before working it and cold to keep the swelling out after use.  Heat more for muscle stuff than connective tissues, but a warm up before working any injury is standard.  Your body can’t remove inflammation once set in if it can’t carry it away from the injury site so you need good circulation to the injury.  I have been told that the massaging and ultra sound of connective tissue injuries, often done by therapists before working an injury, is to break up the inflammation and get it moving so the body can carry it away. [/b][/QUOTE]

 It is good when we can learn something new.

[Brian Bishop]

Dave,
I have been having a similar problem for the past 8 months. I would like to get your help on it if you don't mind. Thanks.

[Andy Cooper]

There is certainly a difference between a chronic inflammatory condition and an acute one! Chronic inflammation, in joints, results in a roughening of the slick articular cartilages as well as extra bone formation (called osteophytes)at the margins of the joint. Osteophytes can irritate the joint capsule and the tendons in contact with them.

The trick is to treat early and aggressively in order to avoid the pathologic, anatomic changes associated with chronicity.

[riverrat 2]

I had it,ice helped. Stopped shooting a while.
it came back,dropped 15lbs,no more problems.

[vintage-bears]

If you can resist shooting and I know it's hard to not shoot our bows, it would be much better to let your injury heal. This happened to me as well and I kept shooting and reinjuring my arm.
Best to sit it out and heal.......Philip

[Carbonkiller]

im having the same issue now...not real bad but being only 28 yrs. old i wanna be shooting for a lot longer. my bow is 47# at my draw but i think i just injured and kept shooting thru the pain. i am now wearing a elastic brace and unstrung my hunting bow....just not my fishing bow:)

i think i will start a stretch routine...any suggestions?