the elbow pain started after gripping paddle too tightly on windier days (more strenuous paddling). I agree that gripping too tightly can be a problem, and I do try not to grip tightly, but wind does force you to hang on to the paddle a bit tighter!
I have so many tight muscles in the arms making it difficult to diagnose, but I have found a very sensitive spot on the inside of the arm about 2 inches down from the funny bone, which is super sensitive (perhaps from gripping the paddle with the outer two fingers?) and seems to relate to the elbow pain in some way. The other symptom I have is numbness on the outer edge of the little finger which is I believe possibly ulnar nerve symptom, but I’m not 100% sure. I do think that this is all connected though, just difficult to find someone to help me diagnose it.
I did have super tight triceps, but have managed to release them considerably through massage.

Alan

good to hear you are doing better with your condition. I will check out your links, always good to get more information and useful links and resources.

Alan

I posted here back in june or July, regarding my RSI, but strangely I cannot not find my post anymore. Anyway, I thought I would follow up with you, because thanks to you, I first discovered that I had RSI and not tennis elbow or other “tendinitis”.
I was out on disability for four weeks back in July, however, my condition only slightly improved and as soon as i started working again, i was back to square one.

It is now three months later, and I am feeling better. The main improvement is that I’m no longer in pain when resting, which is extremely important obviously.

If I could also do other activities without pain. I can hold hands with my wife, brush my teeth, eat with a spoon or fork, etc. I am still in pain when typing, although I can type for a little longer before the pain comes on.

Since July, I have joined the sorehand mailing list at http://sorehand.org/archives/Default.asp

If you have not done so, I would also encourage you to join it. It is a good source of information about RSI. I tried using a foot mouse, but that didn’t work. However, I have found a good substitute for the mouse: voice recognition. I’m typing this message mostly via voice recognition. I use windows seven voice recognition, however I have also heard good things about Dragon naturally speaking.

I have started doing forearm stretches for my form extensor muscles. I also started lifting weights. Had initially stopped back in February, when my symptoms got very bad.
As first, I avoided doing exercises that specifically targetted the forearm muscles and stuck to full body workouts for a month. I have used seven lb. weights to do bicep curls, lateral shoulder raises, tricep exercises and “bench presses”. I then hurt my left elbow while trying to do self trigger point massages without using my other hand. In retrospect, this was a bad idea.
Currently, I’m working my forearms with 4 and 5 lb weights and plan to move up to higher weights.
Im getting deep tissue trigger point massages once a week, although that provides only temporary relief. However, it may help speed up my recovery in the long run.
I’m also going to IMS sessions (trigger point accupuncture) once a week.

The combination of stretching, massage, weight lifting, accupuncture and rest thanks to voice recognition is helping me.

I have a better understanding of what RSI is and what needs to be done to recover.
Please see these links. People have recovered from bad cases of RSI doing what I am doing plus a host of other things. Apparently, not only do muscles need to be stretched, and trigger points removed, but nerves also need stretching:

http://www.tifaq.org/typing-injury-archives/adverse-mechanical-tension.html

http://groups.google.com/group/sci.med.occupational/browse_thread/thread/f8c52e0d9e072027/dd6d2a66ba1d245d?q=rsi+forearms+recovery

I’ve not started doing than yet, but I plan to soon. I will keep you updated on my recovery.
If you want to communicate via email that would be great.

Julian

I’m blogging about my journey via Dragon at:

http://www.nocarpaltunnelblog.com

On a “technical” note, over the past year I’ve found that imagining my spine much further back than where my “internal map” thinks it is eventually allows me to feel areas much further back including the muscles around my spine (lying down with a pillow under my back, arms down either side, which opens chest up), and to then continue sensing sideways to the back of and ends of my shoulders (previously areas my brain couldn’t seem to find the nerve pathways to sense), and the triceps, which are tensed at the shoulder end, being able to feel and release areas I had no awareness of before. That helps my arms even when I’ve not got very far with my neck. I think for the specific rsi you and I have, it may be that like me, you are only aware of a subset of the nerve pathways going to your triceps and shoulders (all the extensor muscles in the arms and shoulders might share the same branch of the nervous system perhaps). When you can feel the rest, it feels like you are suddenly aware of a new outtermost area of those muscles, and were only feeling the inner core before, and it immediately relaxes everything downstream (forearms, wrists etc.).

I think many people need to look further upstream than just trying to relax their arms. I didn’t believe that the root cause could be there until I experienced it myself. The root cause may well be further upstream towards your shoulders or even upper neck in my case. On the few occasions my neck fully released my trapezium seemed to dramatically spread out, followed by my shoulders then triceps then elbows, forearms, wrists, and hands. It was like my arena of sensations suddenly extended outwards where I could have never imagined. Just like I had a vast new network of nerve pathways at my command.

Greg

Alan

It also helps a lot to imagine an area becoming or being fully relaxed (helps a lot if you’ve successfully done it before so you can vaguely remember what it feels like). Then sometimes my arm or whatever just does what I’m imagining on its own.

As for relaxing my head/neck, I’m becroming increasingly aware my nasal cavity area, area between my eyes (which can cause eyestrain) and jaw are all part of the problem.