Climber's Elbow - arm sleeve?

[jonfrisby]

Hey all,

I've got a touch of tendonitis - I'm stretching, resting, massage etc. but I was wondering whether anyone had used an arm sleeve while climbing to protect/stimulate healing in their elbows? Any experience appreciated!   

[Chris W]

Jon, I had a pretty serious problem with this in the past. I put a post on the forum a little while back to explain what I did with it. Now, after every climbing training day, I do pronation and supination exercises with a dumbbell (Dr. J in Rock and Ice suggests a frying pan in a pinch) and have kept my elbows healthy since. I don't believe an arm sleeve would be beneficial in the long run, but then again I haven't used one.

[jonfrisby]

Thanks Chris. I have definitely been doing Dr. J's exercises. I actually read that he says wearing a sleeve is a VERY BAD idea because all it does is mask the problem (kind of how many people say taping finger tendons is bad because it masks the injury).

[adrock]

For me I quickly noticed that being diligent on including pushups in my training has completely alleviated my near constant tendonitis.

I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable than me can explain why, but it has been a dramatic shift.

[Charlie S]

The prescribed elbow exercises seem to be the way to go. Either I'm getting older or climbing harder (or both), but those eccentric movements are becoming more of a mainstay to keep everything happy.

[jonfrisby]

I think you're right Charlie. Once the exercises start to kick in, it has gotten so much better! I also have been loving wrapping a rubber band around my fingertips and making the opposite of a fist.

[bickill]

For what its worth whenever I've had elbow issues I start a regimen of push ups, dips, and other antagonist muscle workouts. It almost always helps. That's just my experience