elbow problems from surfing?

[georgekellop]

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone else has ever had elbow problems from surfing? Last weekend I went out, and I noticed when paddling out my left elbow kinda hurt. Just kept on surfing and ignored it. Long session. Then when I went to get out, and was taking off the wet suit, you kinda have to peel it down past your right elbow, putting a lot of force on your left elbow, and dam, that really f-ed it up! haha. Then I noticed the next day that I lost feeling in my left pinky finger and the finger right next to the pinky finger. Still hasn't come back either! Still works, just feels numb. Musta just pinched a nerve or something.

Don't know if this has happened to anyone else. Definitely not going to keep me from surfing, but kinda annoying.

[tony g]

Yes it sounds like you did something to one of your nerves. If it keeps up I would see a Dr.

[Jimi]

Sounds like you've damaged your ulnar nerve. It could have been compressed (thus stopping blood from getting to the nerve) by a tight wetsuit or a fold in your wettie at your elbow, or crushed from an impact (causing mechanical damage to the nerve). Did you whack your funny bone on your board?

If you haven't got feeling back within an hour, I would see a doctor. If you get pain in the elbow again, I'd also see a doctor. If there's a problem in your elbow or arm putting pressure on the nerve, or blocking adequate blood flow, you need to find out what's going on to avoid possible complications.

The ulnar nerve runs an exposed pathway around the outside of your elbow, so it's prone to damage and compression (It's the nerve you bang when you hit your funny bone) so this type of thing is common, BUT it should go back to normal quickly after you have stopped putting pressure on it.

[IB_Surfer]

Elbow, arm, neck, back... something new every time. Then again, I'm a young guy in an old man's body that keeps shortboarding and tucking in when I should be longboarding and glidding out...

[perusurf]

Elbow, knee, shoulder and hand that is right now!! haha....i'm sure i've injured most body parts surfing in my life...
about the elbow, i realized that it was when i was duckdiving bigger waves that was screwing it up, later realized to hug the board tight when duckdiving bigger waves didn't hurt my elbow.... i mean..duck dive deep normally and when deepest just hug it tight, it also brings you right back out..been doing that since.
now i have a different injury on my elbow but it's going away
can't really keep out of the water for long.....broke my metacarpal bone about a month ago...supposed to have a cast for 25 days...went surfing on day14...hahah....had to take cast off in the end...i thought i had wrapped it well, lasted about 20 minutes till it started getting wet, didn't get another one....kept surfing....