Shooter's Elbow - Tendonitis

[Outlander Systems]

Anyone ever gotten this?

I've been shooting my entire life, and never had a problem before.

About a month ago, a buddy and I took our wives to the range. The only large variable was we brought the 870, and shot it...a lot.

I'm not outright blaming the 870, and I've shot plenty of shotguns, but the shotgun is not typically a weapon I would dedicate a lot of training to. It's definitely the variable here, though.

I can definitely tell you it wasn't the .22 bolt action that jacked me up.

I wasn't giving it much thought, until my buddy started bitching about his elbow killing him ever since we had gone shooting. Until then, I had thought I had injured my elbow from lifting weights. It's still bad enough, that if I turn on a faucet, or pick up a cup of coffee at the right angle, I get lit up.

Any tips? Advice? prevention techniques? It seems like it's not as bad, but I'm starting to get pissed from not shooting or lifting weights, not wanting to further aggregate the situation.

I enjoyed shooting the 870 enough that I considered picking one up, and working on shotgun skills. In the spirit of disclosure, I hadn't fired a shotgun in probably two years. I pretty much do pistol/carbine training and that's it.

[montanadave]

Search tennis elbow or tendonitis. Multiple threads here. You are not the first . . . or the last.

[Straight Shooter]

Brother..Ive got it now so bad, Ive had to stop shooting for several months. Had an elbow shot last year that worked great
for a little while. Need to get another. Its to the point now I cant even shake a mans hand properly without a great deal of pain. My job really aggravates the problem on a nightly basis. So, Im eagerly awaiting answers on this myself. I hurt all the damn time. At least while down, Ive been buying ammo and building my supplies up!

[Moose-Knuckle]

I've only had tedonitis in an ankle and I could barely walk on it. Naproxen sodium and ice on the affected area fixed me up in two days time.

[Outlander Systems]

Brother..Ive got it now so bad, Ive had to stop shooting for several months. Had an elbow shot last year that worked great
for a little while. Need to get another. Its to the point now I cant even shake a mans hand properly without a great deal of pain. My job really aggravates the problem on a nightly basis. So, Im eagerly awaiting answers on this myself. I hurt all the damn time. At least while down, Ive been buying ammo and building my supplies up!

Not a bad idea. If this shit keeps up, all I'll be doing is shooting nonexistent .22.

I'm with ya, this shit is wicked. For some reason it's most pronounced if I'm reaching to pick up coffee.

It's starting to seriously piss me off. I was planning to go bust some caps, but it's been so bad today, I'm worried it's just gonna get worse.

I need to look into this, and see of there's a technique I can use to shoot without this problem.


I've only had tedonitis in an ankle and I could barely walk on it. Naproxen sodium and ice on the affected area fixed me up in two days time.

I wish that would work for this. Every time it "seems" like it's doing better, zap, sumbitch is back.

I'm gonna look into some physical therapy exercises and go from there. It's pathetic. I'm only 33. Got the elbow of a 70 year old.

[Inkslinger]

I feel your pain! I've been dealing with it on the inside of my elbow aka golfers elbow. Funny, never played golf in my life!

Don't let it stop you. I was at Joe Riedy's pistol class today (great guy, great class by the way). I've been using one of those forearm braces. Seems to help. On the upside I could blame all my poor trigger control on a bum arm!

[FlyingHunter]

Here's how I manage most of my patients with medial and/or lateral epicondylitis usually generically referred to as tendonitis or tennis elbow.

Step one: Identify the problem. Tendonitis is a micro tear or at least an inflammation of the section of tissue that connects the muscle to the bone. Usually the causitive factors include repetitive activity or activity you're not conditioned for and here's the key -beyond the load capacity of the tendon. Technique, fatigue, muscle imbalance (a very common issue that's misunderstood), lack of warm up and other factors can create an environment for the tendon to become irritated. A classic example is the weekend warrior use pushes a mouse/computer all week then runs a chainsaw 6 hours on Saturday.

Step Two: Cool it down. Rest, Avoid activities that aggravate it, bracing, taping, or splinting, ice massage to the point of numbness, NSAID's daily e.g. Ibuprofen products if you have no other contraindications for those meds are all things you can do on your own. Take the NSAIDS daily for 10-14 days minimum, not just when you hurt. Do not start stretching, isometrics or other exercises until the pain is 0/10 at rest. Let it heal.

Step Three: Once it no longer hurts at rest, you should begin appropriate exercises and stretches to help address the strength and loss of flexibility. As a general rule multiple angle wrist isometrics at 3 angles, full extension, neutral and full flexion done for 10 sec x 3 reps 3 x day followed by prayer and reverse prayer stretches done 20 sec x 2, 3 x day. Keep the pain 4-5/10 or lower, don't damage the healing fibers.

Step Four: You've done step 3 and 4 and have no joy after 6 or so weeks. Now comes your co-pay insurance fee. See your healthcare professional. Additional treatment options will include iontophoresis which is a modality where we can put meds into the inflammed tendon without a needle, more sophisticated splinting and bracing plans, prescription level medication, ultrasound, and personalized exercise prescription.

Step Five: Be patient. It frequently takes a long while to heal. I've seen patient's take as long as 12 months to heal despite doing everything right. Avoid re-injury - if you're doing something that hurts you are re-injuring it. There is no magic bullet. Surgical solutions are exceptionally rare.

Good Luck - I wish you a fast and complete recovery

[spr1]

Many years ago I went to an orthopedist about absolutely horrible elbow pain and general arm weakness. He asked me to try the reverse prayer stretch (never heard it named before, but that's perfect). It was clear I was very tight in my right forearm. After literally just a few days of stretching my pain was gone and never returned. I have done this stretch a few times per week ever since.
I can't remember his exact explanation as this was around 20 years ago, but I believe the shortening of the muscle was causing an interaction with the nerve bundle that runs through there.

[signal4l]

I've been dealing with mine for about 1 year. I did the cortisone shot, exercises, non prescription meds. It is about 70% resolved. It sucks getting old

[Dienekes]

I learned that word about 20+ years ago when I used my left hand and arm at an awkward angle to release the WWII-era hood release on an old Dodge Power Wagon; lots of force at a bad angle. The only good thing about it was that I shoot right handed. It slowly got better, and for the most part it is quite usable--unless I do something stupid. Which occasionally, I do. Then it's motrin/tylenol and baby the left arm until I can forget it for a while. I don't do sudden/forceful things with it anymore if I can avoid them.

A few years back I also got to learn what the term "rotator cuff surgery" meant. Did one arm, then the other. Lots of sling time, lots of therapy, had to learn patience--which I am not good at. Right now I am wearing a wrist brace from doing too many reps on a C press, and on light duty. One more damn thing to add to the list.

Years ago I got to watch an old (all of 60 yrs?) high power rifle shooter run a drill. His "running" was painful to watch, and I felt sorry for the old geezer. It was some recompense that when he finally got into position, long after everyone else, he knocked down more plates with his M70 Target than everyone else who was missing them. My feelings of foreboding that day have come home to rest: now I'M that poor old stove-up SOB.

As Inspector Callahan said, "A man's gotta know his limitations".

Thank God for modern medicine, a large cerebral cortex, opposable thumbs, and optical sights.

[Campbell]

My best friend and I both got it the same month. We are both 47, mine from work, his from fishing.:)
It was the first time for both of us. Try to rest, ice, advil and patience. The straps will help if used properly. I didn't miss any work, but it can indeed be painful in a nagging kind of way. Good luck on recovery.