Hi Folks
anyone out there suffer from Sore elbows (Tennis elbow) from kiting ?? I get insanely painfull elbows if I kite for more than three days in a row . Would like to hear from others who suffer from this and what they are doing about it.

Applying daisy extract to your elbow at night may help, as will a number of other anti-inflammatory creams (...esp when used during a lunar eclipse ).
Depending on the cause of your problem, strapping (...no, not as in whipping...) may help.
IMOH you may be best trying to determine the cause of the problem (the inflammation) (-apart from the obvious...) For example, does it always happen, is it both arms or just one, does it occur in all conditions, what makes it worse, if you have multiple kites/bars, does it happen with all etc. If not a simple problem with one elbow you might need to consider your riding style/biomechanics for a longer term solution.

i used to have heaps of trubble with my elbows until a mate of mine put me onto voltaran and ice it stoped the pain in about 1/2 an houre and i havnt had it since. take the voltaran and then sit with your elbows in a bucket of ice for as long as you can handdle it and then put them back in again. repeat again the next few times you go out kiteing and before you know it no more pain.

oh and those arm exercises sound like a very good idea, strengthen up the small muscles so they can cope with the stresses your putting them through

Sore Elbow sufferers

Kiters elbow problems fall into 2 categories, both related to overuse depending on the biomechanical stress.

1.Brachioradialis Tendonitis
The Brachioradialis is a short muscle you can see most visibly in the crux of your elbow if you flex your elbow at 90 degrees, with palm turned down and tenes yor arm. The insertion of this muscle into the humerus[upper arm bone] becomes painfully inflamed from the repeated strain of loaded elbow bending. Your kite design is particularly important, and newer kites tend to need less back line pressure and cause fewer problems [e.g. the new Airrush Lift Pro].Kiting well powered and using a shorter depower loop also helps because you fly more on the depower loop than the bar.
Stretching after every kite helps [best done by attemping to flatten your palm against a wall behind you, fingers pointing in and thumb up, while slowly rolling your body away]. Once started the problem can be hard to settle, so try and prevent it by taking 2 Nurofen at least 20 mins before you go out for a while and stretch after. Do not go out straight away, because they take a little time to kick in and won't work once the pain has started. Once properly settled you can kite without the Nurofen again.For those into herbal; Arnica always gets talked up for muscular injury and may be worth a try [real Arnica herb not homeopathic dilutions]. Glucosamine is generally thought to benefit joints rather than muscles. Deep massage by a qualified sports masseuse may have a benefit similar to stretching.

2. Tennis Elbow [lateral epicondylitis]
This is another common condition and is characterised by pain with gripping rather than elbow bending. The bony prominence on the outside of the elbow is generally tender and painful rather than the having pain in the corner of the elbow as in the previous condition.
The problem is from excessive gripping rather than elbow strain and is cause by injury and pain at the site of origin of the finger/wrist extennsor muscles. Firstly use a narrow diameter ergonomic bar. Kite hooked in without the need to grip so hard. Stretch the area after kiting by bending your wrist fully with the hand in a fist. Rest it. treatment is difficult and hence many varying recommendations are often made. Massage and other physical treatments have shown little benefit in trials, nor does taking anti-inflammatories [Nurofen].This is what I reckon is your best bet. If it persists get your Doctor to write a script for Transiderm Nitro 5mg patch [for angina treatment]. Cut them into quarters and wear 12 hours per day to increase local blood supply [nitrates relax blood vessel to increase flow]. This generally results in healing, if your GP is dubious tell him all the sports physicians now use it, with good results. As a last resort get a cortisone injection, it generally is very effective at curing the pain for 3 months or so, but there is evidence that the problem ultimately takes longer to settle, possibly because it actually slows healing, and I would be loathevto do it for a kiter.

I hope this helps. Dr Niall Barrett

p.s do not e-mail me as I can only offer free advice not solicit business over the net

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Originally posted by LouD
Hope someone saves your entry for further perusal as this "sore elbow" thread seems to come up quite frequently.

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That someone must be me! (& yes they will be available as a faq)

My 2 cents: Gotta agree with the biomechanics bit. When I started sailing, I didn't relax my arms, and (unknowingly) was sailing with bent arms - taking the whole weight at the elbows - much pain followed! Have someone watch your technique for really obvious errors which you may not know you are doing..bent back, arms etc..

..Laurie

When I had this problem I simply shortened my chicken loop so as to ride with my elbows always well bent.... no more more problems, good luck!