[Paulo]

I am only 29 but have a lot of similar issues. Letting the stick rebound is very key. I always do some pre-drumming stretches as well. There's a good one where you do a sort of 'come here' wave.

Basically, you hold your arm with a loose fist, palms close to and facing toward your body.

Then extend your elbow away from you in a rolling motion.

As you get about halfway to full extension, start rolling your wrist away from you at the same time and when you hit full extension, roll your fingers from your palm until you feel a stretch. Then reverse it and repeat.

Its the best way I can describe it but it helps if you do it daily. Its kind of like a barbell curl type of motion. Try to be slow and fluid with it.

[Tainojim]

dtxtremeiiispecial, have you tried the Moeller method yet?

Jim Chapin on the moeller technique

YouTube - Jim Chapin on the moeller technique

Also get some Tiger Balm, rub it in and cover it overnight with a gauze wrap.

[dtxtremeiiispecial]

Thanks Paulo and Tainojim!

I haven't been playing at all, and the pain is gone now, so I'm ready to make a comeback.
I need to face it -- I'm afraid of this stuff because it knocked me out of tennis for a good long while, and then I got fat. I don't want to get knocked off the drums.

I first heard of the Moeller Method on this forum. Haven't tried it yet, but it sure looks like a fabulous technique. I've gotta try it. Thanks, Jim. I'll get some Tiger Balm, too.

I've tried the exercise, Paulo, and I like it. You did a great job of explaining an exercise in words. It does involve the affected area. It's now my official warmup.

Damn the torpedoes!

[Paulo]

Cool, glad I could 'transpose' that one. There's many others too but it was one my fiance's physical therapist taught here to recover from the wrist and elbow surgery she had undergone a few years ago.

Don't forget to 'cool down' with stretches too afterwards, especially if you do a heavy set.

Best of luck

[Alan]

I went through the same "Drummer's Elbow" thing. My doctor recommended a steroid injection directly into the tendon. It was sore for a while after that treatment but within 3 days all the pain was gone and I was back to playing with no issues. I know some physicians are reluctant to go this route. Mine said it wasn't a problem so long as you don't need an injection every 4 months or something.

My problem appeared at just about the same time that I began using in-ear monitors. My thinking is that the drum mix wasn't loud enough as compared to the other instruments and I compensated by playing too hard. Do enough of that and something has to give.

[dtxtremeiiispecial]

Interest onset to the problem. So just playing too hard did it.

I had a steroid injection into the tendon for tennis elbow, before I had an elbow problem with drumming. It too cleared up the problem nicely for a while. After I tried to get back into playing tennis it flared up again though. I think I had a really bad case of tennis elbow because the first doctor I saw first said to keep playing, not to stop playing. (I think he wanted me to lose weight). Well, I kept playing until I was dropping the racket on every stroke. I had to stop playing tennis for more than a year.

I ended up at the Mayo Clinic. They told me in sportsmedicine there that one cortisone shot isn't too bad, but NOT to get another. The deal is, cortisone shots change the physiology of the tissue for the worse. So your tendon tissue has been changed somewhat. Be aware, and thanks for the info.

[Alan]

I am not sure of the distinction between the steroid my doctor used and cortisone. I asked him about that and he said he preferred the steroid. It reduces the scar tissue and swelling, I was told. I had the same treatment for Plantar Fasciitis, which is a similar condition with the tendon in the arch of your foot, probably from jogging in my case. That treatment was about 5 years ago and there has been no problems since. He did recommend daily stretching which I do. Stretching was also suggested by one of the other messages you got on this string, so it's probably a good idea.

[dtxtremeiiispecial]

Alan,
Thanks for distinguishing between steroids and cortisone. I didn't. Maybe your doctor was a step ahead of mine. I'm hearing you about the stretching, too.

You know, I had plantar fasciitis too, but nobody gave me an injection for it. Just physical therapy, ice, etc.

Your doctor's not in the Chicago area, is he?

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