A friend of mine has a real problem with tennis elbow. There are days when he can do nothing at all. He came up with an elbow brace from a guy that was working in orthopedics. The thing is black with wide elastic straps that have hook and loop fasteners that allow them to be adjustable. He has no problem when he uses it. He actually has so little problem that he overdoes it and ends up really in pain after he takes it off. So don't over do it.

When I first started Blacksmithing I had a similar problem. Firstly I went to the chemist (read drugstore) and bought a Velcro fastening elastic tennis elbow brace. This worked well after I had rested my arm for a week or so. Use the brace when you work. Get a smaller hammer, the size of the hammer is probably why you have the problem in the first place. Also my doctor said that he had read in a medical journal that If you get a thick towel and hold it with the good arm and twist tightly with the bad arm, hold the pressure then twist the other way. Repeat this ten times twice a day. The exercise helped relieve the pain for me.

Elbow problems almost always come from setting the anvil too low (the formula for setting anvil height in Bealer's book has caused many a sore elbow.) Try adding at least 1-1/2" more height so you don't over-extend and snap the elbow. And until the effects of the added height kick into gear, do "push-ups" against the wall every now and then (with your feet about 3 ft. from the wall) and see if that doesn't make you feel better.

I worked for a company that builds splint for injuries like this. There are three things they told us to do.

1. Keep the affected area warm before doing any work
   
2. Restrict the motion of the affected area when in use so that full extension or power can not be used.
   
3. Stretch before using the affected area.
   

Hey that means that that I can't do any thing, doesn't it?
Nope, the first two numbers up there can be taken care of by a good brace used for tennis elbow. It should be three or so inches wide, made out of a warm (and washable) material, and there should be an adjustable band to tighten down over the muscle. The one I use is made out of a cloth covered neoprene rubber so it keep the muscle warm. The band fits over the top of this and tightens down so that I can only use about 95% of my muscle strength. This helps to prevent injury caused by over extension. The last part about stretching is to limber up your arm and stretch it out helping to keep the carpal tunnel open and the tendons supple. To do this keep your shoulders, hips and feet parallel, hold your hand out like a cop saying STOP. Your arm should be extended all the way forward from your body, with your wrist down and the fingers pointing up. Take your other hand and pull the hand, fingers and thumb back toward the elbow keeping the elbow locked. The pressure should be very light, hold this position for ten to thirty seconds, and repeat up to 20 times or more. Reverse the direction of the wrist so that your hand and fingers are down and the wrist up and do the same thing, light pressure, same repetitions and sets. Also use your finger on the joint and muscle area in a circular massage motion helps a lot too.

Steve Herrick