I know what you will probably tell me, but on Sunday I was helping my cousin build a deck and somehow I hurt my right elbow. I don’t know how, either holding up wood (huh, hu… hu… he said wood) or hammering. Either way my right elbow hurts. Not real bad, but I feel pain when I’m holding my 32 oz. water bottle.
There’s something going on with my right hand too. It just seems weak, like when I squeeze. Yesterday I notice my right hand falling asleep pretty frequently.
So the questions… Should I train today or this week? Did I get some sorta tendanidious or something? Any suggestions how to relieve this?
If you’ve got a dull, aching pain in your elbow, then it’s probably tendinitis. Keep in mind that “dull, aching pain” can also get severe. If, on the other hand, you have a sharp, sudden pain, then I got no idea. You also need to locate the pain: is it on the inside or outside of the elbow? This will help you know whether it’s bicep or tricep tendinitis.
Ways to help tendinitis out. Take around 400-600 mg ibuprofen every six hours, or 500 mg of naproxen (alleve) every twelve hours. Give yourself a few days off from lifting. Once you start up again, after your regular session, use very high reps of a light weight–you want to get more blood flowing to the tendon. You can also try lifting the bar with two hands, then lower with one for several sets of eight to get heavy negatives–that’s an old t-mag article–but I’ve never tried it.
As far as the hand falling asleep, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s likely just a temporary thing. It could be entirely psychological–“parasthesia.” Of course, if it persists or gets worse, see a doc.
If you have a pain in the inner elbow and a weak grip, it might be a problem with the ulnar nerve (google it for more info…I sort of forgot the specifics). I had a similar problem a few days ago, and that’s what a search turned up. Hope this helps!