I have tennis elbow that just won’t go away. I’ve tried 4 weeks of total rest (no upper body work at all). BPC 157 (I’m on week 6, zero difference). Therapy with various methods (theraband, heat, ice, TENS, voodoo floss) and no change.
I’ve seen posts indicating that some anabolics (Anavar and Nandrolone is what I’ve seen) have the potential to help with joint pain. I’m on testosterone but never did any other anabolic. I’m not opposed to the “getting swole” part of them but mostly interested in joint pain relief.
Anyone have any anecdotal evidence or experience with relatively low doses and limited use of anabolics helping and maybe eliminatingof joint pain?
What upper body exercises hurt?
What upper body exercises don’t hurt?
And as far as liking exercises that hurt to do, that doesn’t matter. You just might have to do exercises that you don’t like. Too bad.
I dealt with numerous injuries through the years. My strategy centered on “not doing what hurt.”
You didn’t mention your age or how many years you have been lifting weights.
I don’t want to get into AAS that lessen joint pain. You must have a “natural” plan before turning to any pharmaceuticals. But I need more feedback before getting into my pharmaceutical application suggestions. Just know that I found them of minimal benefit, compared to using your head for exercise selection.
For some odd reason, this logical approach doesn’t make sense to some of my gym buddies. If they can’t do a lift, they just skip. I guess I figure there is always something I can work on even if I can’t do an exercise I’d prefer to do.
The issue is it hurts all the time, not just while lifting.
Bicep curls, chin ups, and any kind of front raises are out of the question. Pressing stuff with a neutral grip is okay but I’ve just been laying off altogether on upper body. I’ve been hitting lower body hard for the past month, and abs, and some HIIT I wouldn’t normally do, just to do something in the gym. I was hoping after a 1 month of therapy and stuff and this BPC I’d be seeing some benefit and could ease into some upper body work but every time I try something it hurts and I feel like I’m making it worse.
I’ve got an appt with an ortho (couldn’t get in until April) but my understanding is that even if I have a tear there surgery on tennis elbow is pretty rare as the recovery rate is not that great.
As far as stats got I’m 51 years old. I’ve been lifting on and off all my life but got serious back into it in late 2022 to get ready for a back surgery and then the recovery after. Now it’s pretty much work, gym, family, rinse and repeat.
There is so much conflicting information out there. Everything I saw said you need total rest because it’s inflamed and you have to let it calm down. But seeing that that didn’t really do anything, I’m certainly not opposed to trying something else
I would advise you to rest it from the things that are directly aggravating. If you can work a similiar pattern that doesn’t bother you, I’d say you should do that. Don’t go super crazy with it. Use higher reps, and leave a few reps in the tank for each set.
Not sure how much time you devoted to theraband flexbar, but it has always fixed my golf/tennis elbow issues. Its something that needs to be done consistently over weeks/months, as well as doing exercises that don’t aggravate the injury.
Ive been in your position, feels like its never going to get better. Rest a few days, to let the swelling go down, then start using the theraband intensively. Make sure you are doing the correct exercises with it as well.
I had tennis elbow last year and saw a physio therapist. Stopped movements that hurt it for a while and did some new strength exercises as directed by the physio. Took quite a long time to fix.
@Koestrizer has some experience with this type of injury too I think.
Pretty much the only thing that will help is rest and time. Great time to focus on lower body training while it rests though.
I’m interested in your original question. I’ve torn my right knee cartilage. I can work around wiggles here and there, but I can’t heal this cartilage. What compounds are out there that can help?
Yea i upgraded to the thickest one, the blue one, and it really helped me, i use it every now and then just to keep the strength up, but i havent had any flare ups in years now. thankfully, just be steady with it and try not to hurt it