ELBOWS Surf Fitness Index:

• My elbow hurts. Could it be from bicep exercises?
• Tennis (surfing) elbow?

Other Fitness Subjects

QUESTION: My elbow hurts. Could it be from new bicep exercises?

QUESTION: Tennis (surfing) elbow?

Beth,
Every once in a while, my elbow starts to hurt from too much surfing. I'm not sure if it's due to paddling or pushing up to get to my feet. It usually happens when I go for 3 or 4 days in a row. It's weird, it almost feels puffy and swollen (but it doesn't look like it). And it doesn't hurt unless I move it in a funny way (like pushing myself up from the couch or something similar).

I imagine it's what tennis elbow or bursitis feels like. The thing is, I lift pretty seriously 3X's a week, and am training for my first triathlon (sprint distance) in Sept., so its not like I'm out of shape or unused to paddling/using my arm muscles. It doesn't bother me when I'm swimming laps at all.

Any thoughts on what this could be, or how I can treat it?

Thanks in advance,
Dan P.

ANSWER:

Hey Dan,
Sounds to me like a bit of tendonitis (tennis elbow), but if it is constant and you have some events coming up, I would get a diagnosis. I think that first you need to get a diagnosis from a doctor to rule out anything else prior to going to PT. There are several good orthopods in the SF area. Once you've done that, the name of a good PT place is Presidio Sport and Medicine and their # is 415-674-9530.

If it were tendonitis, I would suggest a bit of icing and get yourself on some sort of anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen or Aleve) as long as you don't have any tummy problems with it. It is important to take the allotted dosage for 4-5 days (i.e. 2 tablets every 4 hours for Advil) in order to get the anti-inflammatory in your system. After 4-5 days, take a break so your stomach doesn't hate you.

Tendonitis is a pain in the ass because one of the first cures is rest and you sound about as active as me. Rest sucks! If this has been a chronic injury, I would also suggest having the PT or doctor let you know what is going on in your body that is creating this problem and figure out a way to fix it.

Best of luck to you. Enjoy your triathlon and keep me abreast on what happens with your elbow!

Hasta, Beth
(Posted 8-29-02)

Disclaimer:
The opinions in "Ask Beth" represent the opinions of Beth Price, not those of Surfpulse. Surfpulse makes no medical claims nor does SurfPulse assume any responsibility for any opinions or information shared about fitness and health subjects. Anyone who is willing to try any suggestions from this column (or any other section of SurfPulse) for health, fitness, nutrition, injury prevention, or anything relating to any of these areas, is responsible for doing their own due diligence before undertaking any new activity, or continuing a current activity relating to health, fitness, nutrition, injury prevention, or anything else in order to minimize the possibility of injury or death. The information shared herein has not been approved by the FDA, AMA nor any other health or regulatory agency. And therefore, anyone considering to use any of the information shared in this column, in any other section of Surfpulse or anywhere outside of SurfPulse.com, should always consult a physician and/or a personal, certified fitness instructor before implementing any exercise routine or program- especially when significantly modifying one's physical fitness regime or lifestyle in any way.

In other words, Beth is going to be sharing some information that she believes could improve the average, healthy surfer's well-being. But don't complain if you get hurt. Surfing, especially big wave surfing, can be very dangerous and everyone participating in sports such as these should thoroughly evaluate all of the possible consequences before getting involved... and especially before pushing their limits in any capacity. Surf hard but surf safely.