I was doing pretty good - until...

As the OP, I feel I should also update on progress.

My three months lay-off from the project got me back to about 80-90% and resuming work didn't seem to hamper recovery. I was pretty much back to normal when I put full force into opening an old seized-up screw-top paint pot (Stewarts Ecoprime actually - no, don't go there!). I didn't actually feel anything go 'pop' but I knew it was crazy and sure enough the next morning I was right back to square one.

This time, I have basically ignored it but I now instinctively never go past about 75% of my strength in the kind of movements that I now know are going to hurt. I seem to be back to the point where I really don't notice it at all. Still if I have a lot of clecos to move ( meaning dozens), I will pull out my piece-of-**** air cleco puller, otherwise I don't bother.

My mother is a retired pharmacist so we are med-oriented as a family. Despite, that, I think the cortisone is a bad idea. My conclusion is that the best strategy is to just suck it up - you're supposed to be a big butch engineering-type MAN after all. At the same time, be smart enough to adapt to your new limitations and I bet you will not give it a further thought after 3-6 months.

BTW, if you decide to try the alfalfa pills recommended in an early post here, be aware that your toilet will smell like a feed lot for the duration.
 
I finally had he surgery in May this year. I did the three cortisone shots first. The first shot relived the pain for six months then it came back. The second shot relived the pain for three months and the third shot lasted about a month. Now four months after the surgery I am about 90% of the gripping strength that I used to have but doing certain things still causes some discomfort. Before the surgery I had a constant burning in my elbow. The doctor said to be careful and us ?common sense?. If it hurts don?t do it, when it starts hurting stop ice and rest. He said that if you don?t take care of it you can reinjure it. I bought an air cleco pliers and it was worth every penny. :D
 
riveters elbow

Loman said:
I have been diagnosed with tennis elbow, which may have been caused by building. The treatment is rest and I'm told not to hurt it.

What worked for you? Got to stop typing - hurts.
Click to expand...

Finished the plane..elbows got better:) The finished product is worth the pain.

Caused by rivet gun in one hand, bucking bar in other at full or near full arm extension.

Hand pain is caused by clecos.. get a pneumatic cleco gun.
 
Purchase a foam type elbow brace (sock) Cut it in 1/2. Now you have two tubes. Wear one tube on your arm about 2" short of the bend of your elbow.

BIG 5 has them.

Been there done that.


work on!!
 
Had the same problem ...

... and took 5 months off my build without any improvement. I then started to see a personal trainer who taught me how to stretch. She pulled my palm up/front with my arm reaching straight out, hold for about a minute, then pulled my palm down/back with my arm straight out. She also had me doing weight lifting. After about 3 months, I am now 80% pain free and building again. Her core exercise also helped me to continue my build without any more back pain.

It is a wonder what proper exercise can do for your RV build project.
 
Had the heavy briefcase problem while working

and aggravated it with an RV project in retirement. I was prescribed an anti-inflamatory called Voltaren Gel (see: http://www.drugs.com/voltaren-gel.html) that did a great job. I'd try it before cortisone shots.

That and flying rather than building was my cure. :D

Build on, but carefully...
 
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