After some months of regular paddling I started to develop "tennis elbow"--a sharp pain along the tendons on the outside of the joint. Significantly, this only developed in the right elbow. I began using a Wind Swift paddle, and there was some speculation that the neoprene gloves I wear in the winter cause me to tighten my grip which results in tennis elbow. At any rate, now the gloves are gone. My doctor recommended a "tennis elbow" brace. This is an elastic band that wraps just below the elbow, $4.00 at any pharmacy. Now the sneaky part. . . My doc asks me how much time I spend on the computer. Basically I spend most of the day writing and "mousing." I suspect some paddlers in here spend a lot of time keyboarding and mousing too. I'm unable to mouse with my left hand, but that's been suggested. I wear the brace at the keyboard, when I play the flute, paddling, and any other time I'm working with my hands. Also, I do a bit of stretching and arm/wrist movement before paddling, keyboarding, flute practice, even bought a one-pound dumbell to rotate in the hand. It's not just the paddling that's creating the elbow problems! The computer is a big contributor. As a paddler who's also active in a paddling listserver, I suspect there's other paddlers online who assume the sore elbow is from paddling. The mouse and keyboard may be culprits too! After a few months of wearing the brace (and I think not wearing neoprene gloves), I'm able to pick up things in my right hand again without wincing. Geo./Svenn ______________________________ George Bergeron, Secretary '99 Oswego Heritage Council http://www.europa.com/~heritage/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Just a thought. When I worked as a full time instructor doing kayaking i had a bit of tennis elbow. I chatted with the local coach who suggested i use a less stiff paddle shaft. End of problem- I'd been using a light weight alloy shaft. i was stunned at the way the problem vanished as a result. I still use an alloy Schlegel paddle for rock demolition work when doing a spot of rock hopping or river paddling. maybe i do less now or else this shaft is a bit more springy than the old one i had years back. Since then I have tended to go for a medium range shaft in terms of springyness for sea kayaking. Derek---------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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