Alright, so my elbow’s been bugging me for weeks after hammering out some DIY stuff at home. Classic tennis elbow pain, right? Sharp ache on the outside, couldn’t even lift my coffee mug properly some mornings. Total pain in the… well, elbow. Got me thinking, maybe a chiropractor could crack this thing away? Heard some folks swear by ‘em.
First Try: The Chiropractor Visit
Called up a local place. Guy seemed nice enough on the phone. Showed up, sat me down, told him about the pain shooting down my arm. He starts twisting my neck, cracking my back – felt okay I guess, kinda satisfying like popping bubble wrap. Then he got to the elbow.
This part was weird. He grabbed my wrist, pulled real hard, shoved his thumb deep into that sore spot. Hurt like hell! He’s talking about “alignment” and “nerve flow” while I’m trying not to yelp. Whole thing lasted maybe 20 minutes, cost me $60 bucks. Walked out feeling stiff as a board, and the elbow? Still throbbing like crazy the next morning. Felt like I’d just wasted time and cash.
Back to Square One (Still Hurting)
Okay, chiropractor felt like a bust. But the stupid elbow wasn’t fixing itself. Couldn’t grip anything heavy. Forget opening jars! So I started poking around online, chatting with folks who’d been in the same boat.
Ditched the cracking, tried these instead:
- The “Stretchy Rubber Band” Trick. Got this dumb rubber bar thing. Instructions said to hold it with my sore hand, palm up, then slowly unwind it using the other hand. Like winding a towel backwards? Did that a bunch of times every day. Seriously boring, but surprisingly not too painful.
- Ice Massage Meltdown. Dug an old ice pack outta the freezer, but instead of just plopping it on, I pressed it hard right on the painful bump and rubbed small circles. Hurt like mad for the first minute, kinda went numb after that. Did this for 5 minutes every couple hours. Felt like it calmed things down fast.
- Scraping? Seriously? Saw this online – looked medieval! Had an old plastic loyalty card from a coffee shop. Shaped kinda like those fancy scraping tools? Cleaned it good, rubbed a little lotion on my elbow, and scraped that card over the sore spot with some pressure. Short strokes. Turned pink instantly. Did this for maybe 2 minutes, twice a day after icing. Weird, but kinda felt like massaging a deep bruise.
The Slow Grind (Patience Required)
This wasn’t overnight magic. Kept doing the rubber band twists religiously. Iced and scraped morning and evening. Stopped doing stuff that hurt it, like heavy lifting or over-twisting motions. Probably took a good 3 solid weeks before I noticed real change.
Then one morning, grabbed the full coffee pot. Just did it. Didn’t think twice. That sharp catch? It was… gone. Still felt a bit stiff sometimes, but the actual pain started fading. Could finally twist door handles normally! Kept up the routine for another few weeks, kinda easing off as it felt better.
So does chiropractor work for tennis elbow? For my elbow? Nope. Felt like it actually irritated it more. But messing around with that combo of gentle stretches, aggressive icing, and even the cheap-o scraping thing with a coffee club card? That actually started working. Slow and steady, lots of boring repetition, but way better than getting my bones cracked. Saved myself a bunch of future appointments too.