After dealing with tendinitis in my bowing arm for the past several years I decided to have surgery for it. Over the last 12 months I had two cortisone injections – which work amazingly well. Seriously, they are a miracle drug. The next day I had no pain was back in the gym weightlifting. Hmmm, perhaps that’s why I needed surgery now…. But anyway….
Cortisone works well but there are differing thoughts on its effect of tissue degeneration in the arm. Surgery has a very high success rate and my doctor said the tendon will actually heal stronger than it was. It is a simple surgery although I was put under general anesthesia for it. Some doctors use a local or nerve block but I was advised and elected to go under. As far as I’m concerned, the less I feel or know what’s happening as a scalpel touches my tendon and bone, the better! You can google lateral epicondylitis for more information.
I had my surgery on Friday, September 2, 2011. Saturday it was rather painful. After taking the bandaging off to change the dressing I was amazed at how clean (not in a dirty way but in a – no stitches or staples way) the incision site was. Today things seem to be improving very rapidly and physical therapy is prescribed to begin this week!
If any of you are dealing with this issue, so far I’d recommend just do the surgery.
Now…. what caused it? I don’t think my bowing did – my technique quite good and relaxed. However, between the classical practicing, electric bass playing in my rock band, weight lifting (a major hobby of mine), and deciding to take up tennis this summer, and perhaps a bit of aging thrown in there, my tendon just had enough.
Have questions? Post a comment and I’ll reply.
