Manual splitting - elbow

I had a bad case of tendinitis (elbows) from splitting with the original Fiskars Super Splitting Axe (28"). It took months to recover fully from it. That's when I bought my hydraulic splitter.

I do split with various axes and mauls for the fun of it and for some exercise. The 36" Fiskars X27 allows me to take a better (less impact on joints) swing at the wood, and the elbow issue hasn't recurred.

Auzzie Gumtree said:

Not really - the pain is not in the actual elbow more in the wrist. Pain is felt when you try and grip something (like a split off the floor...)

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That description sounds more like Carpal Tunnel. It's probably all related to the elbow though and an overuse injury. There are two types of elbow issues, one is on the inside which I believe they call "golfer's elbow" and the other is on the middle/outside and that I think is "tennis elbow", but they are both inflammations caused by overuse and repetitive motions. I have been taking a vitamin supplement by Enzymatic Therapy called "Myo-tone" which supports tendons, muscles and ligaments as well as Glucosamine/Chondroiton/MSM which also helps cartilage and connective tissue, and also fish oil for inflammation. Some stretching and ice or heat, probably ice is better-and time. It is a downer, I know, but it is the body's way of saying "you're really pushing me too far, you have to help me help you!"

I'm in my early 40s and have had similar pain. We have a great chiropractor near us who works on the whole body. He says it is tendinitis. Which, remember, is literally inflammation of the tendon. He has worked on my whole arm to relieve the pain and help it to heal. Ice, heat, and your favorite anti inflammatory will help too. As said above, you can come here for help with woodburning, but real medical help, a real health care professional is probably the way to go.

Flatbedford said:

As said above, you can come here for help with woodburning, but real medical help, a real health care professional is probably the way to go.

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I agree. I can't help but make just one remark about anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen, though. Don't overdo them. I was taking a lot of ibuprofen for tennis elbow once and it caused an ulcer according the the doctor. I stopped taking the ibuprofen as part of the ulcer treatment. The ulcer healed, but surprisingly, the tennis elbow also healed. Go figure.

Rumor has it their is a PT exercise that is really god. using something called a flexbar. Seems it is so effective when they were testing it against a control they had to stop the experiment and give this new therapy to the control group. They were worried about being accused of withholding a effective treatment...LOL I just learned about it last night, Going to pick up a flex bar today.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/phys-ed-an-easy-fix-for-tennis-elbow/?_r=0

To arrive at that conclusion, the researchers recruited 21 people with chronic, debilitating elbow pain. Ten of them were assigned to standard physical therapy treatment for tennis elbow; this was the control group. The other 11 also received physical therapy, but in addition were taught a choreographed exercise using the rubber bar that they practiced at home. After less than two months of treatment, the researchers terminated the experiment. The early results had been too unfair. The control group had showed little or no improvement. But the rubber-bar-using group effectively had been cured. Those patients reported an 81 percent improvement in their elbow pain and a 72 percent improvement in strength.

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Something like this, I guess? http://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Theraband-Flex-Bar/dp/B00CJOVS7E

I may get one too... It should also strengthen the area to help prevent it in the future.
There's a youtube on how to use it.

(I still encourage a proper diagnosis.)

Sprinter said:

Something like this, I guess? http://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Theraband-Flex-Bar/dp/B00CJOVS7E I may get one too... It should also strengthen the area to help prevent it in the future. There's a youtube on how to use it. (I still encourage a proper diagnosis.)

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Exactly that.

Sprinter said:

Something like this, I guess? http://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Theraband-Flex-Bar/dp/B00CJOVS7E

I may get one too... It should also strengthen the area to help prevent it in the future.
There's a youtube on how to use it.

(I still encourage a proper diagnosis.)

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Forget that link, though. They're really much less. http://www.amazon.com/TheraBand-Y0A2THBFLXRL-Thera-band®-FlexBar®-Red/dp/B00067E4YU

Auzzie Gumtree said:

Thanks guys for all the replies - its sort of comforting to know I'm not the only one. I went to the Doc's last night and he prescribed some anti-inflammatory and to take these for a week. if things don't work out then he suggest a steroid injection. Don't really fancy that so will try and rest and take the tabs.

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Glad you're getting it taken care of. Good luck with it.

I had a case of tennis elbow a few years back and the Doc gave me some stretching exercises and a velcro band to wear around my forearm. Neither seemed to work. After dealing with the pain for about a year, I bought one of those magnetic bracelets and, wallah, the pain was gone. I'm not sure if the tennis elbow ran its course or if the bracelet really helped (and don't care as long as I don't have the pain), but I still wear the thing. Got it from Sabona.c o m

I have found that when using the fiskers, the axe twists a little at the split. After a long session with the fiskers, hello tennis elbow. Using the maul, no issues. I do like switching hands every so often tho.