Isometric exercise for elbow pain

Hey all,

New to the forum and relatively new to climbing.  I suffered from elbow pain for a long while after getting into climbing.  I got in way to fast and was doing way too much.  Every day push-ups, pull-ups, hand grips, climbing three to four times a week for hours each day from Day 1.  All of this messed up my elbow so bad, I couldn't do anything with my arm for two weeks including eat cereal or use a knife.  Pain dragged out over a year.  I eventually saw a doctor and they said I did a real number on the tendons and that I may have elbow pain for the rest of my life.  I did a brief search on here and found the solution that worked for me wasn't on here.

My injury explained.

Symptoms: I would get a shooting pain in my elbow, the outside around the joint and sometimes down the forearm.  Very similar to tennis elbow in what is affected, also know commonly as tendinitis.
Cause: This is caused by irritating the tendons, ligaments, muscle (I'll refer to these three things as 'stuff') and bone from all rubbing against each other and being pulled way too much around that area.  This 'stuff' is the same 'stuff' that extends down your forearm and connects to the back of your hand and fingers and opens your hand.  Your muscles on the inside of your hands develop very quickly, despite the fact you may constantly feel like you need more grip strength as a climber.  So fast, the 'stuff' on the outside cannot keep up and is working very hard constantly against the strength of your grip.
Therapy:  What helped me was isometrics.  These can be completed without anything other than your own hands.  You can modify the exercise to incorporate a desk or table or other firm or fixed object.

BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT THESE EXERCISES:
+Keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees
+Hold each exercise for 30 seconds and start with three or so reps in each hold.  Increase reps after a few weeks.
+Press with what is comfortable.  This should not feel like weight lifting.  This brief routine should take maybe 10 or so minutes and be so inconspicuous you could do it on a train sitting next to someone you know and they wouldn't notice.  Your heart rate may elevate a very little, but it should not elevate a lot.  You shouldn't lose your breath nor should your color change.  Press firmly, but not so firm that if you were to put someone else's hand between your hands, or your hand and a desk, that they would be hurt.  This doesn't yield instant results like using a roller or a static stretch after coming off the wall.
+Start slow.  You are trying to recover.  Do this once a day for a week.  Then twice a day for a week or so.  Monitor improvements.
+Your ultimate goal is to keep your muscles 'awake' to promote healing in afflicted areas, not hurt yourself any more than you already are.
 
Exercise 1A:
Press your palm upward.  Example, put your left hand on top of your right hand and out in front of you, and push up with your palm in your right hand against your left hand.

Exercise 1B:
Press your palm down.  This can be done at the same time as exercise one.  Elbows at 90 degrees.

Exercise 2A:
Press upwards with palms facing down.  With your right palm facing downward, place your left hand on top of your right hand and press upwards with your right hand.

Exercise 2B:
Press downwards with palms facing up.  Do exercise 3 with your left-hand palm facing upward to double up.

Exercise 3:
Fingers pressing together.  Just like it sounds, press your fingers together with your palms facing each other, or also together.

+These first three exercises can be altered to be pressing up, down, left right on a desk, table or other fixed object.

Exercise 4A:
Interlock your fingers with both hands, and rotate your wrists outward as if to pull your hands apart and expose your palms upwards.

Exercise 4B:
Interlock your fingers with both hands, and rotate your wrists inwards as if to pull your hands apart and expose your palms downwards.

+Exercise 4 can be done grabbing something like a vertical or horizontal pole, desk, bar, etc.

Take note of what part of your hand your are pressing with.  Press with your fingers where you can, and not so much your palm, even when using the back of your hand.

This works for me.  If I have pain, I do the exercises for a few weeks, pain is gone.  Do not add this to an already good routine.  If you have been climbing for a while without injury, keep doing that stuff.  I know this is not for everyone.  It worked for me, and I want to share it with a community I am growing to know and love.

Cheers!