Dealing with Tennis Elbow?

Hi everyone, could someone please advise on the fastest way to heal what's commonly known as golfer's elbow? I'm experiencing pain on the inner side of my elbow right at the bony protrusion, which I suspect is the tendon from my grip. It flares up whenever I try to bend my arm while holding something heavy—like when I'm working with dumbbells—or even when I'm pushing my arm inward against some resistance. It’s also quite tender to the touch right on that elbow tip. For now, I've stopped all activities that trigger the discomfort and have been using cold gel packs to manage the inflammation.

Patience is key here. You’ve got to be smart about avoiding those specific movements that trigger the sharpest pain, stay on top of your massage therapy, and really lean into high-rep rehab exercises for that area. It’ll pass, eventually, but if you don't stay disciplined and watch what you're doing, it's just going to flare right back up on you. I'm telling you this from my own firsthand experience...

Zachary Anderson53 said:You just have to be patient! Avoid any movements that trigger sharper pain, try some massage, and stick to high-repetition light exercises for that specific area. It’ll pass, but honestly, if you aren't careful, it'll just come right back—I'm speaking from my own experience here.

That makes sense... I read somewhere that it takes about four to six weeks to fully heal depending on the person, and you really shouldn't do anything strenuous during that time. I can actually feel a little bit of that sharp sting even when I'm just washing my hands and rubbing them together.

Ryan Cooper37 said:Yeah... I read somewhere that it takes about four to six weeks to fully heal, depending on the person... and you're supposed to stay completely idle during that window. Honestly, I still feel a slight twinge even just doing something basic like scrubbing my hands while washing up...

Look, those minor aches and slow movements aren't the real issue here. For me, the trouble was that I’d think I was healed, forget all about the injury, and then fail to properly warm up that specific area before hitting the gym. Then, say, when I'm doing chin-ups with an underhand grip, everything just goes sideways.
The biggest headache for me was handstand push-ups—or whatever they're calling them these days—until I finally switched over to using parallettes.

Bottom line is, there’s no reason to hang up the gym bag entirely. If you take a cautious, smart approach to your training and incorporate some light movement involving internal rotation with varying degrees of elbow flexion for rehab, things should clear up relatively quickly...

Zachary Anderson53 said:Those minor aches and nagging sensations aren't the real issue; I’ve had times where I thought I was fully healed, only to forget about the injury entirely, fail to warm up that specific area properly during a session, and then end up tweaking it again—like when I'm doing chin-ups with an underhand grip.
The biggest trouble I had was with handstand pushups—or whatever you call that move—until I started using parallettes.

All in all, there's really no reason to stop training altogether, provided you take a cautious, smart approach to your workouts and incorporate some light movement involving internal rotation with varying degrees of elbow flexion to aid rehabilitation; you should see things improve relatively quickly.

I'm definitely going to take at least a two-week break just to see how things settle down. Right now, I'm using ice packs and stretching, though I'll have to bench certain exercises for a while. I dealt with a similar situation with my shoulder years ago, and it didn't actually resolve until I committed to a long period of rest; once I stopped pushing through the pain, the injury stayed gone. I'm also considering starting some collagen supplements or other tissue support products, but I'm not quite sure yet.

Work on those forearm muscles by starting with a rubber ball before moving up to a spring-loaded hand gripper. If you're actually going to put in the work, use an elbow brace and you'll see some progress eventually.