Ok, elbow finally improving, so I will try to describe what I think worked for me. Please note I am not a Dr and I am certainly not giving anyone any medical advice and I'm only relating what worked for me, so someone else finding this might at least avoid some of the mistakes I made that caused and prolonged the problems. I did go to a good MD and he suggested the Rest, Aleve, Brace, Wrist Splint and Excercises. The rest of the ideas I dug up researching myself or from friends.
I have the tendon problem (Tennis Elbow) as well as a hyperextended elbow
http://www.ehow.com/about_5201107_elbow ... tment.html , so was getting some pain on all backhands as well as severe pain on deep swings as arm neared full extension. The hyperextension was caused I think from changing how I chopped to get more backspin. The moral of that story is when you find a way to get the max out of something, don't use it all the time, just when you really need it and vary the stoke to keep the opponent guessing, instead.
Anyway, what it took to fix it was to stop using the arm completely for a couple weeks, literally putting it in a sling so I wouldn't use it, wearing a wrist splint at night and taking 2 aleve twice a day. I am eating a high protein diet with 100+ grams per day, and taking 40,000 units serrapeptase a day. I am also taking a heavy duty multivitamin, calcium/magnesium, glucosamine/chondrotin/msm, fish oil, vit c and vit e. In addition, I have been using things like tiger balm ultra
http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Of-Peace-T ... tiger+balm and white flower oil
http://www.amazon.com/White-Flower-Oil- ... flower+oil , and massaging it by hand a lot to rub in the oil and with a heated massager
http://www.qvc.com/.product.V80185.html , and also doing ultrasound therapy
http://www.otcwholesale.com/reliamed-05380.html a couple times a day for 5 min on medium setting using the white flower oil as a conductor, and then massaging and keeping icy/hot arthritis on it afterwards.
No exercise or use at all until it doesn't hurt or burn. Try stretches and exercises
http://www.hughston.com/hha/a.seven.htm and
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2971639/ and
http://www.livestrong.com/article/37798 ... ded-elbow/ without any weights. BTW, i bought yellow and red flexbars, but have heard you can twist a wet towel instead. My arm is so bad I can only do the yellow flexbar currently. I am also doing grip exercises with a ball. Anyway, if there is burning or pain with no weights, its not healed yet. Trying to exercise before it healed just delayed progress and extended the amount of time in pain. Once its healed I started by doing the exercise with many repetitions (like 50 or 100 or until muscle is tired) with minimal weight, and then every day or odd days, increase weight a tad. I had to start with a water bottle with only 1 cup of water to start. I have dumbbells, but even the 2 lb one was too heavy for me to start with. The hardest exercises for me were lifting the hand palm down, and doing the windshield wiper motion with a dumbbell, so I adjusted the amount of water in the bottle to where I could do those both without burning or pain. I am now adding a teaspoon of water to the bottle each day or two trying to slowly strengthen it. After exercise I let it cool down, then ice it 15 min, then massage with white flower oil or tiger balm, then put icy/hot arthritis on it.
Once able to play, I put icy/hot arthritis on it and am wearing a hinged brace
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BB ... _img_sol_0 that keeps me from extending the elbow too far open, and then i am wearing a strap brace
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J0 ... _img_hst_2 over top of the hinged brace to reduce the pull on the tendon because it won't fit well under the hinged brace.
Before I play I stretch it gently and then warm up slowly, not hitting hard or stretching far. I am avoiding playing games as much as possible, and certainly trying not to play games with anyone good, trying instead just to get practice time hitting the ball, and trying to learn new shots to use to replace the ones that hurt. I am playing 15 or 20 min, then taking a break for 5 min. If it hurts or burns, I have to stop. I'm limiting hitting time to about 90 min plus breaks, and trying to practice 3 or 4 times a week. After I stop, 15 min later I ice it for 15 min, then massage with white flower oil or tiger balm and put on icy/hot arthritis.
Hopefully I'll work my way back to full strength within a couple more months, and maybe the hyper extension problem will heal, too, in time.