My elbows hurt like hell :(

[Gnarfskt]

I get a very annoying pain in my elbows when I kitesurf. The pain is not in the muscles, but inside the joints. I know that I'm not alone with this problem, question is what you can do to make it better? Any tips? Stop kiting is not an option =P

[speedyRider]

You have tennis elbow, i had it and it took a complete long year to completely recover, and it didnt recover by itself i had to work hard for it, this is my experience

- If pain is too much try to stop for a couple of weeks, it wont solve it but you wont make it worse. If you do this chronic get ready for a full life of pain, and not be able to hold any weight in the future, grab anything without pain, etc When pain is a little less start doing the next points, its better to stop 2 weeks and then start riding with the neoprene cover
- If your bar pressure in your kite is too heavy, change your kites
- Ride with one of this neoprene protectors, it will help you to not use that much your elbow when kiting
I used one when i rided and it helps to not make the pain worse.
- Ride with your thumb finger over the bar and not under it
- Make small pauses in your sessions every 45 minutes or so, do not hold the bar for too long as this sustained position is what caused you the pain. stretch after your session and then use ice
- Physioterapist work, i had around 40 sessions, works
- stretch the elbow before and after kiting. I did all day too and this is what ultimately helped to heal it. Search for stretching exercises in the net if you dont know how to. When i mean all day, i mean it, i could stretch it maybe 50 times a day
- Once pain is almost nothing, start with exercises to make your forearms stronger, i had one of this grips and i used it 4-5 times a day, usually while driving

Do not take this lightly, i have friends with this chronic pain and believe me its not funny, its not about kiting or not, your whole life will be affected. I had to do all of the above for 1 year in order to heal it

[POACHER]

Yeah I get it when I fly my big kites for consecutive days too. I've heard some say it's the same thing as tennis elbow? Not sure..........but it sucks!

I haven't had it in awhile as I've done some home therapy to strengthen the joint. I do pullups daily with different grip positions (4 sets of 10) and it seems to help.

When I would get it on a trip I would be on a steady stream of Ibuprophin (rAdvil!), ice and Aspercreme (old guy pain creme! ) on the elbow. It helped, but I think working on the root of the problem in the off season is a better route.

Good luck!

[g00se]

Probably good advice above, apart from the forearm grip exercises while driving Pullups work a treat, I try to do them every other day.

I would also suggest trying kites with very little bar pressure (ie ozone instinct or c4). My forearms got really pumped in just an hour with backline heavy kites, but since moving to kites with very low bar pressure I can ride all day no problem.

Takes a while to get used to, but worth it if you're suffering.

[edt]

I get a very annoying pain in my elbows when I kitesurf. The pain is not in the muscles, but inside the joints. I know that I'm not alone with this problem, question is what you can do to make it better? Any tips? Stop kiting is not an option =P

Quit riding two handed entirely and only ride one handed. This will pull your arm straight and only involve shoulder muscles.

[lucian girl]

get a kite with less bar pressure, and do not lock your elbows out when kiting. trim your kite so your elbows are always bent
time will only heal this one
rum will help ease the pain

[POACHER]

Yeah a few shots of Wild Turkey will help too!


The Kicken' Chicken cures all!

[Toby]

I have/had this too, but on top the tennis arm, and on the other side the golf arm!

My doctor gave me an injection, and no more pain! Plus I stretch both parts more now before I hit the water.

[Gnarfskt]

I found this clip on youtube:



Check 3:27 - elbow arthritis. I think that is my diagnose. I don't have consistence pain, but only temporary. I usually get it after intense long session of kitesurfing, like a whole day of kitesurfing. But sometimes, I don't feel anything even though I´ve been kiting like a mofo for hours. Sometimes, like today, I get pain almost immediately. I had to quit my session today after just 30 minutes since it hurt to much

[JMF]

In my experience the biggest cause of tennis elbow? is going out in light conditions that requires you to work the kite constantly! Also like others mentioned bar pressure. My old Naish boxer gave me killer Tennis elbow.