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Bio - Eric Mihelbergel is an intermediate level windsurfer and kiteboarder living in the Great Lakes Region of New York State who enjoys writing about windsports and fitness.
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How I Healed My Windsurfing Tendonitis (Tennis Elbow)
By Eric Mihelbergel
I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor, so do NOT do what I did without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
In June of this year (2017), I got lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) in my left elbow from doing lots of windsurfing jumps and learning to ride frontside. I couldn’t hold a coffee cup or turn a door knob. The doctors and physical therapists said that it normally takes 12 months to heal tennis elbow of this severity if you back off from the activity that caused it. Well, I wouldn’t accept that long of a recovery, and I sure as hell was not going to back off from windsurfing. I did not miss one day of sailing due to the tendonitis, and now only 4 months later my injury is about 90% healed. With that said, keep in mind that I still recommend getting a full evaluation from a doctor as I did. The reason is because there are different degrees of tendonitis and there are several different tendons that can be the problem. A highly trained specialist can help you evaluate your injury thoroughly so that you can devise a more fact based approach to healing.
I'm a big believer in taking a proactive therapeutic approach to health. But, in order to keep sailing while I did this therapy, I first had to make some adjustments to my sailing so that I didn't injured my forearm any worse. There were several minor changes that I made to my sailing. I shortened the length of my sessions (but not the frequency). This kept me on the water, but did not fatigue my forearm too much. I adjusted my harness lines on both sides of the boom to take pull off of my left hand. On the port side of the boom I moved the harness line forward about a half inch, and on the starboard side of the boom I moved the harness line back about a half inch. I always tried to ride with a light grip on the left hand by keeping more weight on the harness. I stopped jumping for while. I found that landing jumps really forced me to squeeze that forearm which I believe over-stretched the tendon. It hurt, and I think it would have made the injury worse if I continued jumping. The other part of the reason that the tendonitis flared up was because I had just learned to ride frontside on starboard tack. This meant that my left arm was clew first on those frontside bottom turns. For an experienced frontside rider this probably does not over stress the left forearm, but for someone just learning I found that it really stressed my left forearm. So I reduced the amount of frontside riding, but I did not stop it completely. I simply did 2-3 frontside turns during a session instead of 15-20. And I always rode the smallest size sail that I could get away with (click here for an article on Riding Smaller Sails). On lighter wind days I went kitesurfing to give my forearm a rest and still stay on the water doing what I love.
I believe that therapy was a major reason that I recovered so quickly. I developed a plan with the help of a professional physical therapist and did therapy twice a day for 2 months and then once a day for the next 2 months. Below is a list of what I did. I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor of any sort, so please do NOT take my advice without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
1. Get blood to the tendon. From what I learned, tendons do not get very good bloodflow, and therefore they can take a long time to heal. So I forced more bloodflow to the tendons. How? Two ways. First, I used a massage tool to gently massage the tendon and forearm. The main purpose of this was to push blood into the tendon and loosen the tense muscles that were pulling on the sore tendon. The tool was a simple, flat, "S" shaped massage tool about 3 inches long. I dipped it in lotion and stroked the tendon and muscles for about 5 minutes twice a day during the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months. You could probably do the same thing with an old door hinge or similar piece of scrap. I was careful not to push too hard so that I didn't injure the tissue. The second way that I initiated more bloodflow was with heat. At the beginning of every therapy session I wrapped my forearm with a heating pad for 5 minutes. This helped to get blood flowing which delivers nutrients for healing. Everything I did to my left forearm I also did to my right forearm.
2. Ice only after an aggravating session. Ice hinders blood flow, so I didn't want to use ice except immediately after I aggravated the tendon in a windsurfing session. If the forearm felt aggravated after a session I would ice it for 10 minutes, then take a 10 minute break, then ice for another 10 minutes. I always used a cloth between the ice and my skin to prevent any skin damage.
I'm a big believer in taking a proactive therapeutic approach to health. But, in order to keep sailing while I did this therapy, I first had to make some adjustments to my sailing so that I didn't injured my forearm any worse. There were several minor changes that I made to my sailing. I shortened the length of my sessions (but not the frequency). This kept me on the water, but did not fatigue my forearm too much. I adjusted my harness lines on both sides of the boom to take pull off of my left hand. On the port side of the boom I moved the harness line forward about a half inch, and on the starboard side of the boom I moved the harness line back about a half inch. I always tried to ride with a light grip on the left hand by keeping more weight on the harness. I stopped jumping for while. I found that landing jumps really forced me to squeeze that forearm which I believe over-stretched the tendon. It hurt, and I think it would have made the injury worse if I continued jumping. The other part of the reason that the tendonitis flared up was because I had just learned to ride frontside on starboard tack. This meant that my left arm was clew first on those frontside bottom turns. For an experienced frontside rider this probably does not over stress the left forearm, but for someone just learning I found that it really stressed my left forearm. So I reduced the amount of frontside riding, but I did not stop it completely. I simply did 2-3 frontside turns during a session instead of 15-20. And I always rode the smallest size sail that I could get away with (click here for an article on Riding Smaller Sails). On lighter wind days I went kitesurfing to give my forearm a rest and still stay on the water doing what I love.
I believe that therapy was a major reason that I recovered so quickly. I developed a plan with the help of a professional physical therapist and did therapy twice a day for 2 months and then once a day for the next 2 months. Below is a list of what I did. I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor of any sort, so please do NOT take my advice without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did, and it is for entertainment purposes only.
1. Get blood to the tendon. From what I learned, tendons do not get very good bloodflow, and therefore they can take a long time to heal. So I forced more bloodflow to the tendons. How? Two ways. First, I used a massage tool to gently massage the tendon and forearm. The main purpose of this was to push blood into the tendon and loosen the tense muscles that were pulling on the sore tendon. The tool was a simple, flat, "S" shaped massage tool about 3 inches long. I dipped it in lotion and stroked the tendon and muscles for about 5 minutes twice a day during the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months. You could probably do the same thing with an old door hinge or similar piece of scrap. I was careful not to push too hard so that I didn't injure the tissue. The second way that I initiated more bloodflow was with heat. At the beginning of every therapy session I wrapped my forearm with a heating pad for 5 minutes. This helped to get blood flowing which delivers nutrients for healing. Everything I did to my left forearm I also did to my right forearm.
2. Ice only after an aggravating session. Ice hinders blood flow, so I didn't want to use ice except immediately after I aggravated the tendon in a windsurfing session. If the forearm felt aggravated after a session I would ice it for 10 minutes, then take a 10 minute break, then ice for another 10 minutes. I always used a cloth between the ice and my skin to prevent any skin damage.
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3. Loosening the whole arm. Much of what I read and listened to advised keeping the entire arm loose so that muscles were not pulling on the tendon. So in addition to the massage on my forearm I also massaged my bicep and tricep. I did not use a tool for this as I found my fingers to be more effective here. I rolled my shoulders and upper back on the floor with a racquetball. Again, this was twice a day for the first 2 months, and then once a day for the next 2 months. And again, I did this to both arms.
4. Strength exercises. From what I learned, most tendonitis is caused by over-stretching, so it was recommended that, for healing purposes, I should do more strength exercises than stretching exercises. I used a one pound dumbbell and did 10 reps of forearm extensions and 10 sets of forearm flexors twice each day for 2 months, then once each day for the next 2 months. In addition, I used a rubber band over my fingertips and thumb, and did 10 reps of opening my hand. The last strength exercise was a static exercise. With my forearm horizontal against my abdomen and palm down, I would try to extend my hand upward for 10 seconds while holding it down with the other hand. Again, I did all of this to both arms, twice a day for the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months.
5. Stretching exercises. While it was recommended to do MORE strength exercises than stretching exercises, it was still recommended to do SOME stretches. There were 2 stretches that I did. They were the basic forearm extension stretch where, with your arm straight in front of you and palm up, you gently bend and pull your hand toward you, and the forearm flexor stretch where, with your arm straight in front of you and palm also up, you gently bend and pull your hand away from you. Again, I did all of this to both arms, twice a day for the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months.
6. Keep your weight down. About 3 years ago I lost 30 pounds (Click here for an article on How I Lost 30 Pounds In 30 Weeks Without Losing Muscle Mass). I believe that it would have taken a lot longer to heal my tennis elbow if I was still that heavy. An extra 30 pounds is a lot of extra weight to hold up. Keep your weight down to help prevent and heal tendonitis.
I hope these ideas are helpful. Devise your own fact based therapeutic plan with the help of a professional. Please remember that I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor, so please do NOT take my advice without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did and it is for entertainment purposes only.
4. Strength exercises. From what I learned, most tendonitis is caused by over-stretching, so it was recommended that, for healing purposes, I should do more strength exercises than stretching exercises. I used a one pound dumbbell and did 10 reps of forearm extensions and 10 sets of forearm flexors twice each day for 2 months, then once each day for the next 2 months. In addition, I used a rubber band over my fingertips and thumb, and did 10 reps of opening my hand. The last strength exercise was a static exercise. With my forearm horizontal against my abdomen and palm down, I would try to extend my hand upward for 10 seconds while holding it down with the other hand. Again, I did all of this to both arms, twice a day for the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months.
5. Stretching exercises. While it was recommended to do MORE strength exercises than stretching exercises, it was still recommended to do SOME stretches. There were 2 stretches that I did. They were the basic forearm extension stretch where, with your arm straight in front of you and palm up, you gently bend and pull your hand toward you, and the forearm flexor stretch where, with your arm straight in front of you and palm also up, you gently bend and pull your hand away from you. Again, I did all of this to both arms, twice a day for the first 2 months, then once a day for the next 2 months.
6. Keep your weight down. About 3 years ago I lost 30 pounds (Click here for an article on How I Lost 30 Pounds In 30 Weeks Without Losing Muscle Mass). I believe that it would have taken a lot longer to heal my tennis elbow if I was still that heavy. An extra 30 pounds is a lot of extra weight to hold up. Keep your weight down to help prevent and heal tendonitis.
I hope these ideas are helpful. Devise your own fact based therapeutic plan with the help of a professional. Please remember that I am NOT a doctor or physical therapist or medical advisor, so please do NOT take my advice without first talking to a professional. This is just a summary of what I did and it is for entertainment purposes only.
