You may have heard of tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and climber’s elbow. Each term describes inflammation at one of the three biceps insertion points at the elbow. Any of these conditions can turn a physically fit person into someone who can barely hold a coffee cup.
Tendon strain is normally a repetitive motion injury. Toss in an acute demand event or two that overloads a tendon, and it doesn’t take much repetitive motion to sideline that arm.
Physical therapy for such injuries involves flexing the hand in the opposite of the chronic use direction while under tension. This method also can be used for prevention. For example, if you are constantly curling your fingers forward to grasp something, then you need to rotate them back under tension. Many people believe that straightening your fingers and pulling them back toward your wrist with the other hand helps. In fact, it loads those sore tendons even more.