Was diagnosed with Tennis Elbow today, and my doc gave me a cortisone shot (fucking hurt). I'm being told that Tennis Elbow usually is a "life long" condition that you have to manage. Funny thing is, it was exercise in the first place that caused it.

So anybody else have it, and are you able to exercise to the fullest extent etc., or do you have constant pain that impedes your activities?

Just curious.

I had it about 6 years ago. I got it from repetitive motion. (starting a chain saw). I went through physical therapy for a couple of months and haven't had a problem since. I wore a brace for awhile also. At PT, they used this device that used electrical currents to force a medicine that was in gel form into the skin/muscle. It was pretty painless.

I have tendinitis in my right shoulder so I feel the pain on the coritzone shots.

One of the tricks my PT uses is taking the small paper dixie cups (like you use to rinse @ the dentist/high end men's rooms that have mouthwash) fill 'em 3/4 with water toss in the freezer. When they're frozen you can tear off the top part of the paper until you have ice accessible and massage the tendons that are hurting 1 minute past numb. Really helps with the inflammation.

I had/have tennis elbow that I got when I was 18 and, interestingly enough, actually playing tennis... My serve was wrong...

Anyways, the things that helped me were:

1) time...
2) the compression bandages REALLY helped when I was playing tennis. And they helped me recover afterwards, quicker, because I wasn't reinjuring the arm every time.

It's been several years now, and I still take precautions and wear a compression band when I think I might be doing something that'll hurt it, just in case, but I haven't had any pain for at least 6 or 7 years, now.

Thanks for the input guys. It's good to hear. I will be picking up a compression band today.