Pole injury or just an unused muscle?

phedre started this discussion · 10/17/2012

Hello fellow polers! I recently started poling again after having a child and am trying to push myself with going too far. Unfortunately, I have developed a sharp pain in my elbow that shoots up to my shoulder and down through my forearm. It seems to have developed from a right hand dominant half bracket grip. I was wondering if anyone else has had something similar, and if it was injury or just a muscle discovering it has a purpose in life. Any useful feedback would be greatly appreciated :)

13 replies

Runemist34 · 10/17/2012
Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like a muscle, but more a tendon, or possibly a pinched nerve. I would ask a doctor about it! And probably try to stay away from half-bracket holds for now, and see if the pain fades. Does it happen only when you're doing the hold, or all the time now?
phedre · 10/17/2012
It happens when I do a half bracket or flag pole, and then it stays there for a couple minutes afterwards. I've been considering making the trip to the doctor, but I think I just need to be more careful for a little while, maybe work on using my left side for strength and my right for positioning and stability.
adAstra · 10/17/2012
Be careful with this. I am a new poler and was trying to do lots and lots of pole holds until I noticed stabbing pains in my elbows and to a lesser extent also in my shoulders. After I focused on strengthening the same muscles with small hand weights the pain went away and I felt that "good pain" that you get the day after a fufilling workout. Pain that shoots through your arm from your elbow sounds familiar to me... you might just be putting too much weight on the joint rather than supporting it with muscle. Focus on engaging your muscles and/or strength training and see if that resolves the pain. Congratulations on your new child! Children in themselves are good strength training as they seem to love being held more than anything else, lol :) Good luck!
Empty · 10/18/2012
As AdAstra says, BE CAREFUL. This is not good pain to have. I did that to myself as well back in my 2nd month of pole. It originally started when got over bold with my new found strength, did a wrist sit and instantly felt that jolt of bad pain in my wrist. Thinking nothing of it, i did it over and over again as well as split grips. Every time the pain got worse. One day the pain shot to my elbow and it was obvious to my teacher, who then yelled at me and told me to stop cause i obviously am not using the proper muscles to execute whatever i was attempting. To this day my wrist aches when i place to much pressure on it and i have to wear a strength wrap every class. I've been told by the ladies on here, as well as my teacher who ironically did the same thing back when she started, that its misuse of the muscles that causes the pain. Your not strong enough nor engaging the proper muscles thus putting to much weight on a very tiny unready part of your body. Take a break. Don't push past it and think it'll go away cause it won't. It'll remind you every time. Learn proper technique rather then risk tendonitis or worse hindering injuries.
kaygee10 · 10/18/2012
its always better to start off at the bottom then work your way to the top. when i first started, i experience the same pain as well. i was just so excited to be dancing that i did it everyday for atleast 3 hours and i would wonder why my right arm was in pain. my problem was i was stressing my muscles and over working them, not taking a break allowing my body to regenerate new muscle fibers, i would only work one side, plus i think i may have locked my elbow when perfoming this hold. NEVER EVER EVER LOCK JOINTS THAT YOUR PUTTING PRESSURE ON, thats how u develope tendonitis. perfect the beginner moves or intermediate, work your way up. some of the best performances are done through perfection of basic moves or inverts. so i agree that you should take a break, a few days maybe a week (i know it sucks) until it feels better. try strengthening your muscles in your chest and upper back like the rhomboids and scapula as well as your core, i would think the primary muscles in this pose doing a flag would be more so in the core, strengthen that and you will take majority of the pressure off relying on just yours arms
phedre · 10/18/2012
Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. I will probably take a break from anything involving a bunch of forearm strength, and work instead on strengthening my forearm. After a lengthy discussion with a couple of instructors at the studio I go to, they seem to think I'm locking in my joints too much because I don't have that forearm strength.
Samantha Whittaker · 10/19/2012
Be very very careful when feeling any pain in your arms, wrist, shoulders, and dont just ignore them, as pain is a warning that something is not happy. It is usually easy to tell the difference between good pain (as in a stifness froma good workout, and bad pain - shooting / stabbing pains arent good) I leant this the hard way through ignoring a pain in my shoulder joint, until after one class i could no longer lift my arm above shoulder height. We thought i had Rotar Cuff and Bicep Tendonitis - but after Physio, scans and and x-ray discovered i actually had Sub-Deltoid Bursitis (inflamation of the Bursa in my shoulder joint) Bursa are fluid filled sac in most joints, and are there to help the tendons, muscles etc glide over each other when in motion. Through overuse it becomes inflames and swells, in an already small space this causes to much friction and begins to catch on things instead of allowing for smooth movement - bloody sore i tell you! Thankfully through rest and going to a Biokineticist to learn how to engage ALL the muscles correctly i am slowly getting better and can now brush my hair again and clean my teeth. BUT NO POLING FOR A WHILE STILL...Arrgh. As a result i know get a sharp pain in my elbow when i use that arm, due to other muscles overcompensating, and cheating to allow me to do things. This sounds like what you are experiencing - possibly using the wrong muscles to support your weight in pole sits etc, and causing stress. The body is a funny thing in how it works out ways INCORRECTLY to allow us to perform moves - and we dont even realise we are using the wrong muscles. So yes work on strengthening forearms, wrists front and back shoulder muscles - and if possible find a pole teacher who can show you what muscles you should be engaging when -hard as im not sure many even know themselves - i asked my Instructor if she was taught such things and she had no idea :( Arm and shoulder injuries are very common in pole, so dont ignore an ongoing pain, otherwise you may put yourself out of action for a while - like silly me did! Apologies for the essay...lol. Good luck
phedre · 10/19/2012
I'm actually super lucky in that almost everyone at my local studio has a health/fitness background in things that aren't pole. So, they've actually learned what muscles should engage when you're trying to do certain things. They apply what they already know to pole more or less. That and I have such an extensive background in fitness that I know when I'm supposed to be engaging a specific muscle group. I also know my weak areas (forearms and lats mostly). I really need to find the baby steps for building my muscle groups! 😀
TatianaSD · 10/23/2012
I was reading this blog and I'm also having a lot of pain on my left arm...mine is on the other side of the elbow, the inside part of the arm and it goes all the way down to my wrist....last night my hubby was massaging it and I started to feel a tingle on all my fingers and then they were numb for about 30 seconds. My left arm is my non-dominante and I have been working on that side for a couple of days, but the pain was so bad last night, it kept me up, there where moments where I felt shooting pain from the inside part of the elbow down to my fingers and then it became numb. This morning I am very sore and I can't even hold my coffee mug with that arm.
phedre · 10/23/2012
Alexa, it sounds like you pinched a nerve. Anything involving that tingling sensation you should really see a doctor about.
TatianaSD · 10/24/2012
Thanks Phedre....I have an appoitment today at 2:45 with my doctor, he is going to do some x-rays and hopefully find out what is going on
TatianaSD · 10/24/2012
So I went to see my doctor today about my arm...and he did some x-ray, it turns out there is nothing wrong, he said that it could be from poling and using that arm a bit to much....I have been doing the split grip and trying to invert on my left side...I just don't remember my right side hurting as much when I started. So he sent me some muscle relaxers for a couple and days and told me not to stop using my left side because the pain will go away eventually. I really do hope so!!
phedre · 10/24/2012
I'm glad it's nothing too serious. Unfortunately, I'm having to seriously stay off of all my joints more or less right now. I managed to mess my knee up doing something totally unrelated, and my elbow is nowhere near healed enough to really start using my left arm again. It's a shame, because my pole is supposed to get here Monday.