I would really love some constructive ideas to help me out on this one.
I have been suffering very painful tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) for the last 2 months, following a stonking week out on the water in 25+kn, 3+hrs a day for 7 days over New Year at Lancelin this year . Was awesome at the time, only when driving home at the end of the week suddenly found I couldnt change gears! I guess it was payback for such great wind that week.

Since then I have been trying to rest it as much as I can going out only a few times a week for shortish sessions with lots of breaks, but really Kiting is the only thing keeping me sane, so I cant stop completely.

I get chiro treatment weekly, do stretches and massage at least 2 times a day, use an elbow brace, taking antinflams and panadol, and started icing it as well.

But I still find it very sore (just about passed out when I just bumped it last night ) and havent got much grip or strength in my hand. Makes kiting a bit of a challange, let alone driving, work or sleeping!

Any suggestions on how to deal with this, eg other things people have found that helps?
Also, though I love my kite (10m 07 Rebel), I am wondering if I may have to look at a kite that is lighter on the bar, but I dont want to lose what I like about this kite- a direct feel with predicable and stable movement in the air, and a good wind range for me. Does anyone have suggestions on kites that I might want to try out?

In the meantime, I guess I will push through on drugs till the end of the season, then give it a good rest while I go quietly insane over the winter .

I didn't read saffer's link (i am too lazy at the moment) and it probably has all the answers. However.........

I suffered from exactly the same when I got into the sport. Too much bar pressure and constantly sheeting in was the cause. I used alot of ibofuren (spelling??) in the form of tablets and creams which worked to some extent but apparently is no good for the liver and only recommended in small, infrequent doses. What did the trick for me was to add a stopper ball on the CL line and ride with little throw so to ride against the ball and not your arms and could ride 'hands free' with very light touch to steer.

Cheers

Knickers said...
Also, though I love my kite (10m 07 Rebel), I am wondering if I may have to look at a kite that is lighter on the bar, but I dont want to lose what I like about this kite- a direct feel with predicable and stable movement in the air, and a good wind range for me. Does anyone have suggestions on kites that I might want to try out?

Get a demo on an Ozone. Try the 9m Sport.

2 things.

fingers together, touch tip of shoulder.
then keeping elbow in same point in space and hand and wrist in same position
move forearm down so finger tips brash past hip and back as far as you can go.
then back again.

2nd thing. forearm and hand flat on table.
reach over to the forearm bone away from you and dig your fingers into the gap between bone and muscle. the muscle in search for extra blood supply from the over working, starts to leach itself to the bone and instead of moving freely is now attached at points along the bone. This is pretty much an old masseurs tale, but a theory that when put into practice helped me.

the other 2nd thing.
Glucosamine, Condroitin, and 2 other compounds are now shown to work together to help joint pain, they are the compounds that assist in cushioning and lubrication of cartilage and joints.
I use a gel formula with all four ( i hate pills and a pill that would have enough of all four would be the size of a walnut).
I won't name it for commercialization reasons but will respond to emails.
don't know if it works for tennis elbow but it is Fckn brilliant for back pain. you know the type where you ache to straighten up, and the 2 bone spur things at the back of your hips feel like someones inserting a screwdriver.

powerballs.com/

Never tried one, but some motorcyclists swear by them to cure their throttle arm pains.
They look cool also.
They are much cheaper on ebay.

Hey i had it in my early years kiteing just keep a ice pack in the freezer strap it to your elbow till it melts worked for me ALL THE OTHER STUFF DID JACK FOR ME

kiteboy 4 said...

Hey i had it in my early years kiteing just keep a ice pack in the freezer strap it to your elbow till it melts worked for me ALL THE OTHER STUFF DID JACK FOR ME

Nooooooooo it can not be.
Kiteboy is that you, were things that heavy you had yo move interstate.
Go kite boy, Go, Go kiteboy, Goooooooo.
We missed you and all the fun that is Kiteboy.

My whole body is falling apart. Tennis elbow is ugly, but on my joins I use Michale's Midi Rub, out of the tube is handy.

Glucosamine, fish oil, and switching between toe side and heal side will all help.

I had it bad couldnt open a door with out using both hands couldnt hold a coffey cup

I managed to burn mine out over three seasons and have not had it for the last two seasons now.

Try this:

roll up a towell so you can grip it with your fists like you would a kite bar but make sure the roll is big enough to keep your grip open (eg fingers are not touching palm and thumb)

Twist the towell untill it is tight and wont twist anymore then with arms and fists straight flat and level. holding arms straight out squeze the towell as hard as you can without causing pain rotate the problem arm-fist forward and hold for 15 secs. keep adjusting grip of problem arm so that everything remains flat straght and level. build it up by 5 secs a day until you reach 1 min


Unless you have suffered from it you cannot understand how painful it can get good luck it TE sucks big time

Knickers,
tennis elbow is a repetitive use injury.
I had a really bad case a few years ago from gym work (weights) which cleared up after 12 months of rest and swimming instead of wieght training.
It came back after I started kiting and after taking Diclofenac for about 6 weeks hadn't cleared up.
Eventually I had a cortizone shot, which eased it up for a while but didn't cure it.
I then had a second shot (about 3 months later) AND continued with the Diclofenac AND iced my arm several times a day every day for two weeks with NO kiting.

That has pretty much cleard up the symptoms and pain, and I can now surf and kite again, but ice my arm after ALL exercize and try not to over do things and it is pretty much under control (although I still feel fatigue in the muscles).

Aside from that I'd concur with other advice above re: technique and sheeting your kite so that you're not puling on the bar with elbows bent.
ive also taken to riding my vapor almost exclusively over other kites as I can tune it to keep bar pressure to a minimum without losing feedback.

hope this helps....

hey knickers i have the same problem, i have had it since before xmas, i find ice helps 20mins on, then i use this gel called rapidgel it is used for racehorses and is available from vets, i think it was $30 for a tub 250g, it hasnt fixed the problem but it helps manage the pain. hope this helps

CarlBevo said...

Gorgo said...

Tennis elbow in kiting is caused by poor technique.

Not sure I agree wth you Gorgo, I would say over use / repetitive use is the cause.
while gear setup can help minimise it, it wont stop it.

Also riding with your arms always straight is not practical and probably impossible how do you de-power if your arms are already straight? you can set up so that you have less bend in your arms

stretched out straight arms when kiting looks ugly

Tennis elbow is caused by over use and over use is caused by poor technique. Elbow and back pain stopped for me when my technique improved. I can now ride for hours almost effortlessly.

It is practical eniough to ride with your arms straight, I do it all the time. You only have to bend your arms when oversheeting for a big jump or a kite loop or something. It works for me.

I think riding with bent arms looks ugly. It's usually accompanied with a bent over back and overly bent legs. At its worst it is the classic poo man stance. Riding with straight arms and back, legs slightly bent at the hip and knee and board nicely on edge is fast and comfortable.

To be honest, most kiters ride around with their kites choked and half stalled. Their kites only get properly powered up when the wind gets strong. In light to moderate winds the kite flies better and generates more power with the bar from 1/2-2/3 of the way out. The kite flies fast and generates apparent wind and you pull in to harvest the power from the fast flying kite. Unless you are riding unhooked or with a too small kite then the bar needs to be a lot further out than most people ride.

Hi, When I am riding I let the bar rotate so it is verticle and find this changes the pressure on your elbow wich helps me. I sometimes hold the bar with a reverse grip as this also changes the pressure on my elbow. I only ride like this when making up lost ground and revert back to normal just befor riding a wave or doing a trick. It takes a bit of getting used to and may look a bit odd but it keeps me out on the water.

Your mum was right Nic - "rest, rest, rest"

Yeh, I never listened either

A couple of months may well be enough to break the cycle, especially if your getting intensive physio.

Best of luck

Hey Nic

You need to find a friendly vet to get some of that horse stuff from and might as well get a few vials of steroids too!!! Hahaha

Well I know only to well about this injury , I've had it now for a year and a half maybe a little more.
It suxs bigtime anyway mine was caused through weights and I knew when it first happened.
I even lost full extention in my arm and it is still like that and won't straighten , I went for x rays ultra sound MRI trying to find why I had lost extension of the joint.
I have just been putting up with it this whole time and tried everything.
I can't bring myself to stop kiting and haven't been able to do any weights since I did it in the firsat place , it is pissing me off no end , I have been to doctors and they just say rest rest physio etc.
Well I just think it's something more , but hell these guys are supposed to know.
Anyway a friend of mine recently had the same as in lost full extesion of his arm he had every test done as I did , except one more called a Nuclear Barium test or something with the dye , anyway they found scar tissue at the elbow so he had an opp to remove it, he says pain is gone but apparantley if you get the opp it will never quite be 100 % again???
I would so love to see the ass end of this injury go..................