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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Arm Problems....
tenderhearts 08:44 AM 10-21-2010
Do any of you suffer from "tennis elbow"? Back in about march thru about july I was in soooo much pain, really couldn't do anything with my arm, it was excrutiating pain just to squeeze the toothpaste. Went to doctor diagnosed with "tennis elbow", explained what I needed to do OR I could do cortisone shot, I chose not to. Well the 15 mo old I had at that time left so I think it helped not picking up kids anymore even though i didn't pick her up alot. So my arm since about july has been so much better, still is sore with some things or if I pick up something on the heavier side, but the last few days I feel it coming back the pain is increasingly getting worse, and I know its from having the 2 babies. If anyone else suffers from this what do you do to help relieve this? I'm scared I dont know how I'll survive with 2 babies if it gets that bad again.
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laundryduchess@yahoo.com 09:05 AM 10-21-2010
YES!!!!! I have it too,.. I just try to be careful. Im older than you though,.. so maybe some therapy could help you? I did therapy when I was younger
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tenderhearts 09:18 AM 10-21-2010
Haha I'm actually "old" too, so I wouldn't be surprised if I may be older than you
They didnt' tell me about therapy but I saw some exercises online, I just don't see how i hurts now, i used to when I was young carry my kids all the time and never had problems.
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Lilbutterflie 09:26 AM 10-21-2010
I have heard all positive things about cortisone shots. It might be time to give it a try...
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laundryduchess@yahoo.com 09:26 AM 10-21-2010
well how bout we say we are both younger at heart than body? lol I have been putting biofreeze on it,.. helps. =-)
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tenderhearts 09:35 AM 10-21-2010
I've never heard of biofreeze, what is it exactly???
They say the cortisone shots dont' always work and if you rely on it and do it too much it doesn't work plus I DON"T like shots haha I"m a baby I know
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laundryduchess@yahoo.com 09:37 AM 10-21-2010
Its a cream, I get it from my chiropractor
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Childminder 10:52 AM 10-21-2010
I have it now and also did about 10 years ago. I put heat on it and have a band that fits around the arm just under the elbow. Got mine at the medical supply store without a script on my doctors recommendation. I think I've seen then at our drug and superstores too.

As far as age I'm probably the ancient one here on this site. Been watching kids for 45 years.
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tenderhearts 11:24 AM 10-21-2010
The doctor gave me one of those bands too, but really it didn't seem like it really helped anything, I didn't notice a difference. I have been using ice and rotating with heat, it feels a little better today but I haven't had to pick up the one baby much today the other one isn't here on thursdays.
haha if you've been watching kids for 45 years then I'm afraid to say you are definetly older than me. I'm not afraid to say my age I'm 41 (almost 42) been married for 20 years 2 kids 18 and 13. Some day and hopefully not any time soon, I'll be watching my grand kids funny thing is with our daughter she said I will never do what you do mom, I can't change diapers and deal with all of the kids and stuff you deal with, BUT she is now a caregiver working on her CNA SO instead of little bums she changes bigger bums
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broncomom1973 11:41 AM 10-21-2010
I have it too. I woke up one day several months ago and my arm hurt and has ever since. I went to the orthopaedic clinic and had the Dr evaluate it and he dx it as tennis elbow. He offered PT or cortisone, but I declined the cortisone because I have had several already at the ripe old age of 37. I used to play competitive volleyball and had several in my shoulder, one in my knee and one in my collarbone (not a pleasant place for an injection, lol). Anyway, I chose not to because some Dr's believe that too many injections can cause weakening of tendons and softening of cartilage. I also decided against the PT because it costs too much. At my appt., I visited with a therapist who said to put water in little dixie cups and freeze it, peel off the top inch of the cup and ice the area a couple of times daily. He also told me to wear a strap on that arm and look up some exercises online if I wasnt going to come in for PT. I feel better to know that it must be fairly common as I was worried that I had something more serious wrong, lol.
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SandeeAR 12:02 PM 10-21-2010
I have tennis elbow in both arms. I have had it for probably 12 years. TAKE THE CORTISONE SHOT!!!! I have had a total of 3 in the 12 years.

The shot will help get it well, THEN use the bands on a regular basis when lifting to prevent more injury. I hadn't had issues in a couple of years, but when we moved, I pulled out the bands and used them when packing and moving.

The dixie cup ice thing is common in PT (My daughter is one).

One exercise that I was given is....Hold your arm straight out in front of you, (palm down). Now make and fist and go up and down (like your knocking something flat in front of you). Do this several times a day. After a few weeks, you can add a one pound weight (can of veggies), and continue the exercise.
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tenderhearts 01:12 PM 10-21-2010
Thanks for the tips. so when you say you put a strap on your arm are you talking about like around you neck to keep it from moving, like when you have a cast on your arm or just the strap that goes around the arm? So no heat just ice????
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Childminder 02:01 PM 10-21-2010
The strap just wraps around your forearm and velcros to itself. Two inches wide maybe and doesn't connect to anything else. 20minutes ice and 20minutes heat 20 minutes nothing is what is recommended by PT/DR
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SandeeAR 02:56 PM 10-21-2010
For a pic of the straps, go to pain reliver dot com, search tennis elbow. Scroll down to "Pro Straps", that is what I have. They don't fix anything, but according to my PT Daughter (she put this in everyday language for me).....they help hold those muscles, not allowing them to get streched.
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misol 08:09 AM 10-22-2010
I had this same pain in my right elbow area which lasted for months. I had self-diagnosed tennis elbow and reading this thread just made me realize it is gone now! Don't even know when it left. I guess I had just learned to live with it. I would feel the pain when I picked up the kids but it was the most severe during diaper changes. When changing diapers I use the left hand for wiping and the right hand for lifting bottoms up. It got so severe that I had to flip the babies around so that I could start wiping with the opposite hand to relieve some of the pain. If I run into this problem again I will try the strap that was mentioned.
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boysx5 09:19 AM 10-22-2010
yes I get this off and on never went to the dr. for it just deal with the pain for now
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