Elbow pain from triceps exercises

[vt_Brady2705]

Hi all, I'm new here, and I'm searching for some tips on dealing with some moderate elbow pain.

Let me explain - I'm getting a sharp, painful sensation in my left elbow whenever I contract my arm, right before I begin the "push" phase of a triceps exercise. For example, on close grip bench, I get the pain right about as the bar begins to touch my chest on the way down, and then for the immediate part of the original push.

This pain is felt during all triceps exercises, but it is more extreme in some exercises than in others - I notice it the most in skull crushers (lying flat on a bench and bringing an EZ-bar down to your forehead with your elbows bent about 90 degrees, and then pressing back up to where your arms are extended straight out as if you were benching), and also in tricep-pulldown exercises; those two are definitely where I feel it the most.

I noticed a moderate discomfort weeks ago, but it's heightened each time I go back to the gym and work my arms. I don't know if this is just a temporary pain associated with some sort of strain, and will eventually work itself out (like a wrist pain or something like that), or if this might sound like something serious that I should check out.

I've done some research briefly, and seen things about wrapping something tightly around your forearm, or even these weird glove/pads that go over your hands and are supposed to eliminate pain in the elbows or wrists; but I'm not sure if this is for me, since most of the elbow problems I've seen online seem to flare up when people do bicep exercises, and my pain is only felt during tricep workouts. Anyways, any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[narcsarge]

Always have injuries that concern you checked out by a Doctor. One tool I use to help understand what maybe causing the pain is this link:

Sports Injuries

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Sounds like you have some arthritis setting in.
The best thing to do is to go see a Rheumatologist and have it checked out.
I have issues with arthritis in my elbows AND my wrists and depending on the given day, I experience some difficulties and have to work around it.
I have to battle thru the pain on many occasions and often I have to drop an exercise or alter my workout to some degree.

I often work thru the pain, but I have a strong mindset that allows me to do so.
But I have also found there are certain pains you can work through and
then there are others that are clear signals that you should not attempt
to work through it as it will cause further issues that can linger and affect
future scheduled workouts.

When this happens, best thing to do is switch or alter your workout to adapt
to what is happening. Try standing extensions if those are painful, try lying
extensions (skullcrushers), if that is not working, try pressdowns, overhead cable extensions, kickbacks, close-grip bench, dips, etc..etc...
For me, it affects my benching too, so some days I cant go heavy.

There are many days I have to skip triceps or biceps because of this, it's just a constant battle for me, but it's a fight well worth fighting as the stronger I get the more minor my symptoms became...It's about fighting the battle and overcoming the odds for me...People with arthritis will benifit to a major degree if they would just lift weights

So go check it out bro, as it sounds to me clearly liek it's arthritis.

[dubs]

You do not have arthritis setting in, this a common miss conception. I have this same problem and mine is now going into even my biceps workout. Most likely it is either tendonitis or bursitus. Both of these require rest and ice..sometimes compression sleeves can help, but mostly rest and ice. Go online and search these two, this will help you determine which is affecting you. There are also several other possiblities (like arthritis) but these are the two most likely.

[dubs]

couple of other things. blue emu oil can help a ton(rub), along with fish oil(oral), and glucosomin and chondrotin (oral), I have also heard that flax oil can help as well (oral). These are all things that will help people who train in general, and can alleviate aches and pains in the joints. Good luck

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Originally Posted by dubs

You do not have arthritis setting in.

Wow such confidence with the E-diagnosis

vtbrady - Go to a doctor if you have insurance, this is THE best advice you will get

[dubs]

Actually, I am in the last year of my residency. I am a family care doctor but I love sports, working out and staying in shape. I am also one of the rare doc's who doesn't believe that you need to see a doctor and get a shot for every little thing. (fyi.. this drives up health care costs!)So, while this is not my area of expertise, I do know a little something...even by what someone describes in an email. Best of Luck

[BiggerGuns=LongerDrives]

Originally Posted by dubs

Actually, I am in the last year of my residency. I am a family care doctor but I love sports, working out and staying in shape. I am also one of the rare doc's who doesn't believe that you need to see a doctor and get a shot for every little thing. (fyi.. this drives up health care costs!)So, while this is not my area of expertise, I do know a little something...even by what someone describes in an email. Best of Luck

I hear ya and congrats on the hard work so far, I give much respect to that.

But my point was made based on the fact that I for surely have Arthritis myself and I can describe the same symptoms. So you would be wrong to give me that diagnosis.

Thats all

[Patrick_Bateman]

It might be lateral epicondylitis/medial epicondylitis, if so it can take up to a year to heal. You should go to the Doctor to make sure what type of injury it is.

[Patrick_Bateman]

Some links thast might help


medial epicondylitis ( golfers elbow)

Medial Epicondylitis (Golfer's Elbow)

Lateral epicondylitis (Tennis elbow)
Medinfo: Tennis Elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)



Elbow tennis - Treatment and information on Tennis elbow - Lateral epicondylitis

[Tas]

stop the skull crushers, and slow down on the triceps for a while, it won't get any better if you force it. Had the same thing happen to me, i was doing real heavy on skulls but had to stop completely, now i can't even do them with very light weight, i feel the pain right away in the elbows.
Usually close grip is a good alternative, but since it gives you pain also, skip it for a while, have you tried reverse close grip? How about dips?
take it easy.

[NiteHawk]

I would definitely get it checked out. It could be some type of tendonitis as was mentioned. Skull krushers put your elbow in a bad position, as do tricep extensions behind the neck.

I too, had similiar elbow pain in my right elbow. It once sent a surging pain down my whole arm so that point I went to my doctor, got a cortizone shot and took 5 weeks off. Its ok now.

I take plenty of time to warm up my elbows now and I use elbow wraps when doing triceps or heavy exercises.

If you get it checked out, let us know what the diagnosis was.

[vt_Brady2705]

Hey all, thanks for all the feedback. I never ended up going to the doctors, but I have adjusted my schedule a little. I also found a great product that seemed to help me with the pain - Animal Flex, by Universal. From what it says anyways, it's specifically built to help strengthen the joints that get worn down over years of body building.

I should have pointed out in my first message that I'm only 21 years old, so arthritis was probably unlikely. Anyways, besides taking a supplement to help strengthen my joints, I've pushed skull-crushers to the end of the tricep-portion of my arm workouts. Typically I'll start with 5 sets on close grip bench, then go do 5 sets of standing barbell curls, then 4 sets of weighted dips, then another bicep, then 4 sets of reverse grip bench-press, then another bicep, and then i do my skull crushers, which is the last tricep exercise I'll do on an arm day. By pushind it to the end, my arms are already warmed up, and so I only feel discomfort on the first rep of each skull-crushers set, and after that it feels fine. With all other tricep exercises, the pain has gone away. I can't say how much this is due to the new supplement, or how much is due to delaying skull-crushers until the end of my workout. But at this point, I feel I'm relatively back to normal, and a little joint pain here and there should be expected because of the relatively heavy weights I use, and the amount of time I've committed to weight lifting over the last 6 years.

[lyricalnut02]

after reading ya'll comments, i have to say that i to used to have this pain in my right elbow whilst doing tricep extension with the dumbells and not on any of the other tricep exercises, it used to be a sharp pain and i used to feel alot of discomfort. I was simply advised to try some fish oil (meant to be good for bones), and after i took this for about 5 days before my next tricep day workout, i never felt any pain ever again after takin cod liver oil, before i had started to take this oil i used to feel pains no matter wot, my pains lasted for a good few months (only felt the pain in my elbow wen doing triceps) before i decided to ask some people about it and thats wot i did, maybe u can try this and see if it helps ya..

[Babbs]

You're doing 15 to 20 sets of triceps on "arm days" and you're wondering why your elbows hurt?

Is this a trick question?

[vt_Brady2705]

Yeah, my workouts certainly run on the long side, but I've been lifting for a long while now and I know my body, what works for me, how I get stronger, and this system I'm on now works very well for me. I know it may seem excessive, but it's how I do it. Everyone trains a little different I suppose, this is what I've learned will work for me.

Anyways though, the pain has pretty much gone away since I started taking a joint-supplement and holding off skull crushers until the end, so it's not a big concern for me anymore. Thanks for the feedback though.

[occ]

Originally Posted by dubs

Actually, I am in the last year of my residency. I am a family care doctor but I love sports, working out and staying in shape. I am also one of the rare doc's who doesn't believe that you need to see a doctor and get a shot for every little thing. (fyi.. this drives up health care costs!)So, while this is not my area of expertise, I do know a little something...even by what someone describes in an email. Best of Luck

doc u said he might have tendonitis , shouldnt he use nsaid to help relief the symptoms ? ....and if nsaid failed he might consider local steroid injection ? i have the same prob and i wanna follow ,i tried diclofenac and didnt work much ..so i ll try ketorolac tromethamine now and after that i might consider local steroid injection ......and btw can i ask u how u managed to train when u was a med student (specially med 1 and med2 )...man they re exhausting .....am a medical student (med1) (and love sports also soo much .in addition to medicine) so u might feel free to go into details -