Is this tennis elbow?

I think your issue is actually a brachialis strain, not tennis elbow. Supinated and neutral grip bicep curls should be much more painful to execute than your standard pronated curl if this is the case. Standard straight bar pull ups should cause you pain in the same area. I had this issue about a year and a half ago and it took the better part of 3-4 months to fully go away. Like you, I continued to train, but had to heavily restrict my workouts to not aggravate the area. I still was able to work biceps and perform curls, but had to over exaggerate a supinated grip while keeping my wrists and elbows firmly rigid. Same with back days...all movements like pull downs, rows, etc had to be with supinated grips....and chin ups. The only thing that I found helped was ice and advil. Massaging just continued to irritate the area.

 

Honestly, you're going to want stay away from anything remotely heavy that involves grip; such as deadlifts, rowing and other back exercises, and even carrying plates will aggravate it pretty easily (it's the rolling/curling motion coupled w/static tension in your fingers, etc.). I had this in my early 20s from heavy curls. Not sure if you've ever had shin splints, but if so, I think you'll find the pain is relatively similar; and minimizing the pain is similar in terms of heavy wrapping/taping around the forearm will mitigate it (w/shinsplints you'd tape the calf tightly pulling it forward to reduce stress on the bone).

Also, think of it like shin splints in terms of recovery. You have to avoid that heavy work for a decent amount of time to allow the injury to heal. You may get away w/a heavy workout or two once it's feeling better, but you'll soon be right back in the same boat. I know it's hard to stay away from the chase, but sometimes you've gotta back off for quite a while.

If you want to kinda confirm what I'm talking about, grab a friend and a light weight that will stimulate the pain (don't pick the friend up). Manipulate the weight in a manner that stimulates the pain and have your friend wrap both hands around your forearm and squeeze tight (very tight); if the pain goes away w/the squeezing pressure you are (probably) dealing w/a similar injury!!

So, if it's the same the reason massage is reducing pain is because it's relaxing the muscles, etc. around the injury that have tightened up to try and protect and shield it. This is why even though you feel better (acutely) the root injury may still be highly aggravated and susceptible to long term issues if you try and get back at it too soon!!!

Besides what is they say??... it's 90% diet!!! So, missing some heavy work for a couple of months shouldn't mitigate too much of that mass ...

Alternating heat and cold really helped me also. Like someone said above, the ice massages really help reduce that immediate flaring up pain as everything starts to fire up by numbing things up and reducing the swelling. But, getting some hot compress sessions in also help by increasing blood flow to the targeted area; which is especially good after you've had a good high protein meal or have taken some BCAAs...

Good luck!!!!!

 

I used this last year.

I get this elbow crap from heavy squats.

I also have some Captains of Crush grip trainers. 95lb trainer & 195lb level 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2MA5cRxyG0&ab_channel=StartingStrength

 

It can be an aggravating and painful thing. I used to play tennis and had this a couple times. I couldn’t even pick up a television remote.

 

How's the elbow doing, @T-Rex266 ?

 

After years of being a defensive tactics instructor, which also means I'm the tackling dummy for most drills and getting the ol' "arm bar" technique (you know, the pressure toward hyperextending the elbow joint), I could no longer do pullups or any bicep work without feeling it in same spot. Friend who was an athletic trainer basically said, "You can rest it for a while, months maybe, until it's not painful anymore OR you can continue until you rupture a tendon." I rested it for a LONG time, worked around it and even now will do an extensive warm up before doing anything like pullups or adding any weight to an overhead pull down exercise. Kept reminding myself that the triceps is 2/3 of the arm's size anyway so it was an opportunity to hit that area a little harder. (although no one ever showed off their triceps when hanging their arms out the car window).

 

Right, I was just meaning the "tennis elbow" was all. Have you rested and iced it, or have you been powering through?

Also, because I can.

 

I didn't know you were a lefty.

 

Ah, so it's a genetic condition. My condolences.


Are you full blown left handed, or are you semi ambidextrous? Any tasks that you perform right handed?

 

Hes a witch!

 

when did you know you were a south paw?

my son is...we tried to convert him early...didn't work.

 

The owner and a Mod are lefties?

 

Band'it!!!!

 

The band'it was the only thing that worked for me. Maybe it will work for you. Duct tape won't work

 

I knew you were messin. Wore it until the pain was gone completely. From what I remember it took a few weeks.
Hopefully it works for you.

 

Had the same area of pain in my forearms after playing flirt pole with my dog of all things. Never got a real diagnosis from a doc, and took a long long time to heal. Couldn’t get a firm grasp of things with my hand at times just felts wierd. After 3-4 month finally notice it went away mostly with some lingering but better than before and now can hit the gym again.