Tennis Elbow / Golf Elbow
Sep. 28th, 2020 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
purpleponyartIt's a fact of life these days that just about anything can give you a repetitive strain injury, or RSI. Now that I'm over 40, I recognize that the best cure is simply rest.
If you have never had golf or tennis elbow, be glad--it is so painful. This isn't the first time for me either. Tennis elbow affects the outer part of the elbow while golf elbow affects the inner part. Suddenly, every little motion becomes painful and your hands lose strength. I was going to paint all day on Sunday, but it was hard. I couldn't squeeze the tube with my left hand. I had to use two hands. Then, my left index finger became extremely painful at the same time.
Full stop! Put the phone down! I gotta rest my arm and hand.
It doesn't help that I sprained my left thumb earlier and I was just beginning to get the full range of motion back. Lots of Voltaren, ice, heat and simply sleeping with my arm on a pillow helped a lot. Since I had to still work during this time, I sat with a pillow under my armpit as well to give my elbow support during the day.
So, I guess my message is, artistic peeps, look after your body. It's your only one and if you're like me where you're working from home and don't get those little breaks like you used to--get up and walk around and stretch every hour. You don't want to lose a week of your life to something that can be avoided!
If you have never had golf or tennis elbow, be glad--it is so painful. This isn't the first time for me either. Tennis elbow affects the outer part of the elbow while golf elbow affects the inner part. Suddenly, every little motion becomes painful and your hands lose strength. I was going to paint all day on Sunday, but it was hard. I couldn't squeeze the tube with my left hand. I had to use two hands. Then, my left index finger became extremely painful at the same time.
Full stop! Put the phone down! I gotta rest my arm and hand.
It doesn't help that I sprained my left thumb earlier and I was just beginning to get the full range of motion back. Lots of Voltaren, ice, heat and simply sleeping with my arm on a pillow helped a lot. Since I had to still work during this time, I sat with a pillow under my armpit as well to give my elbow support during the day.
So, I guess my message is, artistic peeps, look after your body. It's your only one and if you're like me where you're working from home and don't get those little breaks like you used to--get up and walk around and stretch every hour. You don't want to lose a week of your life to something that can be avoided!
By BruceBlaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
