Medial epicondylitis - one more question

I am about 6 weeks out from a flair of medial elbow epicondylitis/tendonitis. Things have improved, but not resolved. For about 4.5 weeks I have been doing only leg and core exercises to rest my elbows. None of my exercises cause pain or discomfort in my elbows. Since things began improving I have included reverse curls (with slow eccentric contraction) ~3x/week. This usually makes my elbows feel better afterward. I have read that the slow eccentric contractions are helpful in the healing process and one reference suggested that it should be done with the wrist flexors if there is medial elbow pain.

Long story short, every time I do any kind of light wrist flexor work with dumbells or whatever, within an hour my elbows ache and are more painful than usual with certain movements (ie. fingertip pushup) for at least a day or more. My sense is that this is counterproductive, so I have stopped doing wrist flexor exercises.

Ok, my question is whether the reverse curls are the ticket for any elbow tendonitis (medial or lateral) and whether the idea of "strengthening" the forearm flexors after recovery from tendonitis is not needed given that Gymnastic Strength Training™ already takes care of that.

Any thoughts/comments are appreciated. This continues to be a frustrating issue and I think despite my effort to allow proper healing, I am sabotaging my recovery.

Cheers,

ted.

I'd love to have some insight on this. It sounds a lot like what I have.

And it sounds a hell of a lot like what I'm doing. I don't train the upper body, except for one heavy set of HIT-style dips for two sets PER WEEK. I've had this problem for 3 weeks now. It's gotten better, but as above, it hasn't gone away totally.

Fingertip pushups are something that cause very, very localized pain on an area about the size of a fingertip right next to the medial epicondyle on the ulnar side of the joint.

Learn how to do gua sha to yourself. Graston is a more common name for it but they are the same thing. ART is also good but can be tougher to use on yourself. Scrape from proximal to distal (elbow to hand) and don't ignore the hands and fingers either.

ALL extensors originate from lateral and all flexors originate from medial epicondyle.

Absolutely look into the tissue work that Slizz recommended. I've had elbow problems since January and at the beginning of August decided to see an ART practitioner. My pain and issues quickly improved in just one month. I still have some discomfort, but only in the lateral epicondyle, whereas before it was all around the elbow, but now it is very manageable.

It is also very helpful to have a professional help you out because it helps to see how the work is applied properly, making the motions easier to replicate by yourself later.