Golfer’s elbow – also known as medial epicondylitis is very common for tradesmen, grapplers and MMA fighters.

It is often caused by overuse of the flexing muscles of the hand – which contract whenever you grip anything. The overuse can often lead to inflammation and tendinitis.

You should look to rest and stretch your wrist flexors, strengthen your wrist extensor muscles and  reduce inflammation both locally around the area and systemically – in your body generally.

Disclaimer – I am not a physio, but I have had golfer’s elbow since I was 17 – 22 years! It was keeping me awake at night, but these things have helped…

Summary:

• Drink Tart Cherry Juice & Supplement with Curcumin to reduce inflammation
• Don’t consume vegetable oils or sugar as this causes inflammation
• Strengthen Wrist extensor muscles
• Stretch Wrist Flexor muscles
• Promote relaxation in the muscles surrounding the injury with magnesium and kava kava
• Avoid heavy bicep curls and barbell bench press
• Use lifting-straps for chin ups & other exercises to put less stress on your flexor-muscles/grip.
• Don’t hold the pads or hit a heavy bag – get a ‘top-and-bottom-ball‘ – the one Apollo introduced Rocky to in Rocky III
• Ice your elbow after training
• Use a sauna if you have access – this helps reduce inflammation
• Invest in a massage machine to remove scar tissue and promote relaxation in the wrist

Massage Gun & Golfer’s Elbow

Basically use the gun to relax the wrist flexors, don’t use the gun directly on the pain. Ice the area of the pain and stretch and massage the surrounding areas

Joe Rogan is a huge fan of the Tim Tam Massage Gun

Click here to visit the official Tim Tam website & learn more

Other Ways to Treat Golfer’s Elbow

Another Sensational Headline About Nutrition but it’s generally good to avoid vegetable oils

Golfer’s elbow is a very common injury in both BJJ players and MMA fighters. It is a form of tendinitis brought on by over-use, usually of the wrist-flexors.

From my experience there are 3 things that cause problems with the inner-elbow:

• Gripping all the time – developing wrist flexor strength & not extensors
• Holding pads
• General inflammation & over-training

You can address the problem in several ways, we’ll separate them into 3 categories:

• Reducing inflammation
• Reducing muscle tension
• Rebuilding tendon strength (if possible without HGH)
• Strengthening Flexor muscles

Reducing Inflammation in the Elbow

For a ‘quick-win’ try reducing inflammation.

There are a number of ways to do this including:

• Restricted-time eating / intermittent fasting
• Ketogenic diet
• Supplementing with Tart Cherry Juice
• Supplementing with curcumin and/or turmeric
• Supplementing with omega 3
• Reducing consumption of sugar & vegetable oils
• Cold showers/cryotherapy
• Saunas / infra-red lamps

I’ve found good results from drinking tart cherry juice with my main meal in the evening, using cold showers and the Wim Hof method, and using an infrared lamp.

Selfie Wanker – with Cherry Juice Concentrate

Reducing muscle tension

obviously stretching is the ideal way to reduce muscle tension, but a lot of people are also deficient in magnesium, which causes a range of health problems.

Some quick wins for reducing muscular tension include:

• Supplementing kava kava (at your own risk, is illegal in the UK now)
• Supplementing with magnesium glycinate and/or a magnesium spray
• Epsom salt baths – be careful not to use too much & get dehydrated
• Stretching

Rehabbing the Actual Golfer’s Elbow Injury

I’ve had golfer’s elbow since I was 17 in my right arm. It started when I was holding pads in JKD class and doing weights all the time with bad technique.

It’s got a lot better since I stopped doing:

• Barbell bench press (do dumbbell instead)
• Free weight bicep curls (use bands instead)
• Do chin ups using Wrist-straps

It’s also got a lot better when I’ve started strengthened the extensor muscles in my wrist with:

• Bottom up – kettlebell shoulder press
• Reverse bicep curls (with bands)

1. Bottom up – Kettlebell presses

2. Reverse Curls

Here are some more decent exercises:

Massage for Golfer’s Elbow

I don’t know how to specifically massage your forearms and wrist to breakdown scar tissue and relax the wrist flexor muscles – however, I have found my DIY massage gun very helpful.

If funds allow, I would also invest in a TimTam massage gun.

Click here to visit the official website & buy the machine

click here to see how to build your own from a powertool and a tennis ball.

And finally…

if you have joint and tendon pain in general, then supplementing with collagen and/or gelatine may help alleviate some of the pain according to recent research.

Disclaimer
This article is for the purpose of information only and it is not intended to diagnose or treat medical conditions and is not considered to be a substitute for individual medical assessment and advice.