Elbow arthritis

I'm 36, male, been climbing about 12 years.
About 4 months ago, I felt this severe pain in my right elbow along with constriction of movement. Not sure how exactly it started or any single point of trauma - possibly could've been waking up and doing some pull-ups without warming up first (bad idea).

My range of motion was severely affected in the elbow and I had to stop all physical activity immediately. A few weeks later the range of motion returned to about 70% of before - I could not straighten the arm completely or bend to touch my fingers to my elbow. Talking to other climbers I wrongly attributed the problem to tendonitis (tennis elbow) and began remedial PT as such. I was able to start climbing a bit however the pain / discomfort flared if I did anything more than light climbing.

A few months into it the problem does not show a sign of going away and I just went and saw an orthopedist and got x-rays. Lo and behold, they found early arthritis (wear and tear) on the elbow, along with a small fracture on the radial head. She has now recommended I see a PT for the time being.

Any of you have elbow arthritis issues? I feel my days of hard climbing are over for good but am curious if there are steps I can take to reduce or reverse some of the damage? I realize that climbing may have aggravated my genetically poor joints (I have bad knees as well), but I'd love to do something now which may prevent more drastic steps when I 'm older.

I have had severe shoulder arthritis for years. A "partially frozen" shoulder. Substantial loss of range of motion.

There is no cure for arthritis, but PT or some home exercises may help you retain your range of motion.

I work around my pain and limitations.

Some people will tell you about glucosamine/chondroitin (didn't help me after several years), others - this juice or that fish oil, but none of it is proven to work, scientifically. It's hard to argue with someone telling you it helped them, so take that for what it's worth.

My two cents worth, if that much!

Thanks for sharing your experience Frank! Getting old sucks :)
I'm laying off climbing for a bit. Focusing on surfing as that seems less problematic for the elbows.

Even if you have multiple surgeries and take as long as two years to recover, you would still be twenty years younger than I am! That's plenty of time to fit in some hard climbing if you want to do so.

If it were me, I would find the best sports medicine Doc I could, get a real diagnosis and do whatever it took to get better. But you need a diagnosis. A subtle radial head fracture causing trouble 4 months later or severe arthritis in Only one elbow? Neither seems especially convincing. Could be right, but how about a second opinion?

i just had ulnar nerve surgery and arthritis/gout removal from my elbow.the tophi had bonded with the skin pretty bad.

years of climbing and arthritis combined

where are you at ?

I've heard prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy can both be beneficial for arthritis.

john strand wrote:i just had ulnar nerve surgery and arthritis/gout removal from my elbow.the tophi had bonded with the skin pretty bad. years of climbing and arthritis combined where are you at ?

My elbow problems began about 6 months ago and since I've pretty much laid off climbing or lifting weights. Who knows I may have to go under the knife in a few years. I'm trying to decide how much climbing I want in my life and if resulting wear is going to hamper the rest of my lifestyle.

Caden S wrote:I've heard prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy can both be beneficial for arthritis.

Thanks for the tip. I consulted my orho and she suggested a cortisone shot first and then prolotherapy if that doesn't help. I got the cortisone shot last week so let's see if that helps.

I have been doing some easy climbing since about a month post op. no issues other than I'm weak ! The elbow is doing really well.

Good luck..i have found that cortisone reaction is directly related to the amount of damage and duration of arthritis symptoms

john strand wrote:I have been doing some easy climbing since about a month post op. no issues other than I'm weak ! The elbow is doing really well. Good luck..i have found that cortisone reaction is directly related to the amount of damage and duration of arthritis symptoms

Great to hear that your elbow is on the mend and the climbing is back up!
Post-coristone shot I find some small improvement and have started light climbing again too. However my elbow articulation is still restricted (i.e. that I cannot straighten the arm completely, or bend it all the way for my fingers to touch my shoulder). I'm doing some light PT but not sure if that's helping.

Did you have any mobility restriction issues as well?
Some friends also advised ROLFing and acupuncture. Have you tried?