ow, that hurts!

[Inkspill]

So I noticed some pain the other day in the lower tricep toward the elbow where the muscle attaches, while I was bagging


Found some nice exercises and stretches, for tennis elbow and general tricep work.

feels good to do these.

Tennis elbow

https://www.hughston.com/hha/a.seven.htm

https://www.healthyexerciseworld.com/exercises-tennis-elbow.html

Triceps - I like to stretch with the hand towel behind the back, pulling up and then pulling down alternating direction and holding and slowly increasing stretch.

I also put a tennis ball on the wall and lean on it with my tricep and move so it rolls around


What do you folks like to do for your body when it says "ow! Stop hitting the bag!" ?

[Speedbag]

So I noticed some pain the other day in the lower tricep toward the elbow where the muscle attaches, while I was bagging

Found some nice exercises and stretches, for tennis elbow and general tricep work.

feels good to do these.

Tennis elbow

https://www.hughston.com/hha/a.seven.htm

https://www.healthyexerciseworld.com/exercises-tennis-elbow.html

Triceps - I like to stretch with the hand towel behind the back, pulling up and then pulling down alternating direction and holding and slowly increasing stretch.

I also put a tennis ball on the wall and lean on it with my tricep and move so it rolls around

What do you folks like to do for your body when it says "ow! Stop hitting the bag!" ?

That is a great question.

(1) When I was younger and immortal: I found a reason to keep hitting the bag, punch through the pain (ah, no pain - no gain...) and later maybe go to a doctor, let him find a way to help me punch through the pain, or ignore his advice to stop for a while, because he just didn't understand.

(2) Now that I am older with mortality staring me in the face: I listen to my body when it says "OWW! stop hitting the bag", and pretty much stop hitting the bag. At least for a while.

Having spent 30+ years doing #1, I have learned from the mistake of ignoring such signals. The secret, which is harder than it sounds, is learning to recognize the diffence between normal use and soreness, vs Acute immediate injury, or Chronic continuous injury, indicating longer term, ongoing damage. This is not a lesson easily learned - and often written in a foreign language, for during the joys of youth we can never seem to read it unless it is shouting at the level of "Man, that bone hanging out of my leg really hurts! I guess this is serious...."
Or perhaps you'll find that the pain of punching starts to outweigh the joy of punching. Trust me on this, it can reach that point.

There are a few clues that I can offer from my own experience. If that pain in your elbow goes away in a few days, it might be a minor soreness or nothing to worry about. Yet. If it continues to hurt, and hurt more directly in relation to how much you use it, (meaning: a little baggin', a little pain" or "a lot of baggin', a lot of pain") than that means the motions and action of hitting the bag is injuring the area and you need to stop for a while, perhaps rehab the area or seek medical advice. But stop for a while!
If the elbow starts hurting more during non-bag activities, meaning after other activities, or at night - perhaps waking you up hurting or making sleep difficult, than you may have a more significant injury or issue becoming chronic. At this point youth and the inability to read (or desire not to read) the writing on the joint will kick in and we normally just keep doing it anyway.

I was guilty of this for many years myself, which is why I write this. I'm not blaming others or casting doubt on your own decisions, I'm just telling you a bit of my own experience. I too had an elbow pain issue in the lower tricep area. It Started as light soreness, mainly after bagging. After a few months, The more I hit, the worse it got. Occassionally I would skip a workout because it was "worse than usual" at that moment. I also noticed that occassionally my ring and little finger would feel cold or numb. But it did not stop me from making a fist so I continued to punch. I was also playing a bit of quitar back then, and noticed my left ring finger and little finger (fret hand) took a bit more concentration to push down and hold the strings down. After about a year and a half of this - the elbow pain had become more specific to the median (inward area toward the body) of my elbow and had progressed to the point of interfering with just about everything. I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon who found that I had Ulnar Nerve Entrapment. All of my doctor friends know I am a speed bag fanatic, and this one ( a hand and elbow specialist) had seen me hit a few times over the years, so he said the only treatment that I would be satisfied with was a surgical repair, called an Ulnar Nerve Transposition, which is a pretty minor proceedure that moves the ulnar nerve over (transposes the position) and repositions it out of the area of entrapment. In my case, he said the nerve had become frayed to the point of probable rupture, indicating a long term issue. To be honest I had endured nagging left elbow pain for several years before it got to the point of this particular surgery - and I guess my body was trying to tell me something until the surgeon made me listen.

But I didn't listen for long because 3 months after surgery I was back to baggin', with no more elbow pain, in that arm anyway. But elbows come in two's so.....

Anyway, Inkspill, I am NOT saying you might have ulnar nerve issues, or anything else, I'm just suggesting that IF it keeps on or heaven forbid gets worse, - Listen to your body and do something about it.

Remember you can always buy another bag, but joints are really, really expensive, and they don't come with warranties. Their life expectancy is soley up to owner.

[Inkspill]

Thank you Speedbag. I would much rather learn this from you than pay for surgery.
I'm old enough to pay attention at least some of the time haha.

The pain was a clenching in my muscle that went away with massage and stretching. I took a day off, stretched a bunch, and am feeling great.

I have been keeping a journal so I will keeep track and make note of any days of pain, what type, how long lasted, etc.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Much appreciated

[Tim]

Thank you Speedbag. I would much rather learn this from you than pay for surgery.
I'm old enough to pay attention at least some of the time haha.

The pain was a clenching in my muscle that went away with massage and stretching. I took a day off, stretched a bunch, and am feeling great.

I have been keeping a journal so I will keeep track and make note of any days of pain, what type, how long lasted, etc.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Much appreciated

Ice is your friend. I ice my shoulders after every extended punch session, even if it doesn't hurt. Rotator cuff impingement tends to get worse with age (I'm 38). I also do the "7 minute rotator cuff solution" workout (it's a classic book that puts in layman's terms why you have to take care of your cuff). Having had shoulder surgery once (torn labrum) I'm not particularly interested in losing another 12-18 months in recovery time....

Lastly, sometimes you just have to take a week or month (or months) off. Bagging is addictive, and overuse problems can crop up. There's really not much that can be done other than to cut back...

[Speedbag]

Per TIM:

......Rotator cuff impingement tends to get worse with age (I'm 38). I also do the "7 minute rotator cuff solution" workout (it's a classic book that puts in layman's terms why you have to take care of your cuff). ......

Good book and great for aging shoulders.

[Inkspill]

thanks for the tips guys, I will start up on the exercises.

[Inkspill]

I'm on my phone so just basic links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OSiw5wGIsc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjA0YNAQI7U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ7l85g7EBQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xWXhg638w

I did all of these stretches and exercises and feeling better. Left side is tighter than the right and a little sore. Thanks for the help guys I'm staying on top of this