Anyone else out there ever had this problem? If so, I was wondering what worked for you to get healthy and stay healthy. I just want to get back to climbing, being injured sucks. Thanks for the help.

Well epicondylitis is simply an inflamation (unless there are other factors your not mentioning) Kinda like tennis elbow. Just do the standard the Doc told you, these things happen. Probobly something like the R.I.C.E (Rest, ice, compression, elevation) and perhaps some motrin.

Rest it. I know it sucks to take a couple weeks off but it will be a recurring nightmare if you don't take care of it now. When you do start climbing again tape your upper arm to support the tendon attachments at the elbow and don't go balls out for a couple of weeks. Start on easy stuff and work your way back up to where you were before injury. Also find a friend who can massage the hell out of your arm stripping the muscles from the wrist all the way to the elbow. Make sure to do the extensors as well. Those are usually more sore and often time the cause of medial epicondylitis due to muscle imbalance (don't leave out bicep,tricep, and brachialis-they all attach at the elbow too). This remedy is backed by nothing scientific...but through trial and error over the last 10 years I have found it works for me.

This worked for me:
1. Stop climbing until the acute inflammation resolves. Ice, advil, etc help.
2. Do NOT stop using your arm/elbow, however.
3. Buy 2 ace bandage ice/heat pack wraps for each problem elbow (these have a gel pack that slips into a sleeve on a velcro ace bandage). Keep 1 in the freezer, and 1 next to your microwave.
4. A few times each day, heat 1 of the packs and wrap your problem elbow(s).
5. With the wrap on do range-of-motion and stretching exercises. Eric Horst's Training to Climb book suggests good stretches for elbows. A good one is to hold the problem-arm fist in your other hand, then twist the problem arm (articulate at the wrist-elbow) throughout it's range. If you can afford it, see a PT for more ideas.
6. Eventually progress to using thera-bands, then light dumb bells, and do this exercise:
With palm up, lift your hand (with other hand) until at full flexion (i.e. fingertips point to you), then slowly i.e. 10 seconds extend your hand down until fingertips point to floor. Lift hand again, etc. (do NOT use muscle contraction to flex hand).
7. Do aggressive cross-friction massage on the point of irritation. It should be uncomfortable.
8. After every exercise session, remove the hot pack and replace with the pack in your freezer. Leave on for 1/2 hour.
9. Drink a lot of water, and avoid coffee, alcohol, etc.
10. Progress back to climbing as soon as you can pull with absolutely NO pain. Start very slowly, doing the exercises described above as your warm-up, then easy topropes in the gym etc. Do NOT over-do it. I climbed in the gym for 2 months with the heat packs wrapped on my elbows to keep them warm (the elbow is poorly vascularized and heat helps blood flow).
11. You now have a rehabilitated elbow. It will require regular exercise and attention for as long as you remain a climber.

I am seeing a physical therapist and he has me doing some tendon gliding exercises and stretching of the wrist, that and alot of icing and a low dose of ibuprofen. It seems to be helping. Thanks for the advice guys.

Steve has hit the nail on the head with all of his points. I will add that you should NOT massage the tendon attachment as this will increase inflammation unless you do it exactly right. Instead work on the belly of the muscle, I prefer to find the trigger points and hold with steady pressure/kneading for a minute at a time. Also make sure you are getting out daily for short hikes to increase blood flow. Arm swinging does not seem to cause inflammation, but jarring sometimes does so lay off running and cycling for a bit.

Getting your tendon to stop hurting is the easy part unfortunately. Rehabilitation is the tricky part. I agree with Steve that you should not climb with acute pain, but you do need to slowly increase the intensity of rehab once you are out of the acute inflammation phase. This will be painful and sometimes cause it to flare back up...it is like walking a razors edge to heal these injuries. Basically your body will be laying down scar tissue in a random fashion, and rehab is breaking down the scar tissue that is not oriented properly and replacing it with correctly oriented tissue that can withstand proper force. This does not occur unless you work the tendon. Besides the ice/heat packs those chemical hand warmers work great to warm the tissue, and can be included in your tape job so you don't have to use ace bandages.

I spent a year healing from my first case of tendonitis, going back and forth from resting completely for 4-6 weeks and starting climbing again only to have it flare back up. Finally after a year of these cycles I just kept climbing at a very moderate level and it healed up in a couple of months. The last time I had tendinitis I took off 2 weeks then got right back at it at a low level. It was completely cleared up in 6 weeks and I was back cranking.

Just thought I would add that usually your body lets you know well in advance that you are developing tendinitis, unfortunately most of us don't stop to listen. Now days I can usually feel it coming and back off for a week or two and it will go away. Prevention is much easier than healing. Good luck.

I suffered with this for over one year. During that time I tried everything from physical therapy (with three different physical therapists), icing, ibuprofen, steroidal injections, doing nothing, self pity, more p/t, stretching, diet modification, massage, and rest. NOTHING worked. In fact nothing even came close to working.

What did work, I am convinced, is a routine or method established by Julian Saunders. He wrote an excellent article for the November or December (don't exactly remember) issue of Rock and Ice specifically on this tendon malady. Where his article said recovery could occur in six weeks it took me eight weeks before I was climbing again. It's now been three months since I finished his method and I am climbing nearly at the level I was when I injured myself.

The key is to follow his routine exactly and to get deep tissue massage (critical component for recovery) by someone who knows what they are doing (I am lucky to have found just the right professional for this in my area). Because Saunders' method irritates the tendon (a lot) I at times wondered if I was doing more harm than good. But I stayed with it and by the seventh week, however, I knew I was improving tremendously.

I contacted Saunders in Australia for advice and coaching. He was happy to help and encourage me along the way. Good luck!