BJJ Elbow

My elbow tendonitis has flared up again. It started a few months ago and I thought it was almost resolved but it is now back. My tendonitis is at the medial epicondyle (the little finger side) which is the common attachment site for the muscles that flex the fingers and wrist. These are the muscles that tend to get overworked when someone does a lot of gripping, which I tend to do in my work (Sport and Remedial Massage) and leisure time (BJJ, Judo and weights training).

To treat this I will:

• Try to refrain from activities that aggravate my problem. This will be difficult unless I intend to give up BJJ and work! I will modify the techniques that I use in my work to try to mininise the amount of gripping I do.

• Ice my elbows to reduce inflammation.
• Strap my forearms before training and possibly for work. By strapping my forearm two or three centimetres below the elbow I will take some pressure off the common flexor tendon.
• Receive soft tissue work on my wrist and finger flexors to reduce their tone.
• Train my wrist and finger extensors (the muscles responsible for the opposite actions) to improve the balance of strength around the these joints.

Hopefully a combination of these methods will help me to manage and resolve this problem.