Banishing Bat Wings

Groomfit with Vera Needham

We are all familiar with Golfers Elbow and Tennis Elbow, but did you know you could get Groomers Elbow? The clinical term for this type of elbow injury is Tendonitis. It is inflammation of the tendon that connects the triceps to the ulna bone at the elbow.

The triceps muscle is on the back of your arm and responsible for extending your arm at the elbow and for pushing movements. three-headed because there are three parts of these muscles. The triceps brachii is commonly called the triceps. It’s a fairly large arm muscle and makes up about two thirds of the upper arm.

Biceps and triceps work as a team. When you bend you arm your biceps engage and your triceps relaxes allowing your arm bend. When we squeeze activate the triceps, your biceps relaxes and your arm straightens. Maintaining a good balance of strength between the

The “ITIS” on the end of the word implies that chronic inflammation is the real problem but newer studies have disputed this concept. Imagine your tendon being a rope rubbing back and forth on a hard surface (bone) for decades. It doesn’t matter how strong the rope is, eventually it will begin to fray. Tendons deteriorate in much the same way. As time passes the joint degenerates, irritates, becomes inflamed and if left untreated small tears may occur.

Tendonitis and tendinopathy are degenerative condition rather than inflammatory. This means the tendon is frayed instead of swollen. For this reason antiinflammatory medications may not be very helpful. Heat may be more effective for any chronic tendon pain than ice. Applying heat may help relax the muscle and increase blood flow which is important to promote healing.

two muscles is important to keep elbows pain free.

When pain occurs at the back of the arm we sometimes think that the triceps muscle is the source of discomfort. While this is sometimes true, the majority of injuries to the triceps occur as a result of a compromised triceps tendon.

There are two main causes of tendon injuries. Sudden onset tendon pain occurs after some sort of accident or fall that causes strain or tear to the tendon. Slow onset repetitive strain injury develops gradually and over an extended period of time as the result of overusing the joint and not allowing adequate time to rest and recover.

Earlier I mentioned Tennis and Golfers Elbow. Tennis elbow presents itself as pain on the outside of the elbow while Golfers elbow is painful on the inside of the elbow. Both are a form of tendonitis called epicondylitis. The tendons involved with golfers/tennis elbow involve muscles of the forearm instead of the triceps. You can identify triceps-related tendonitis when you experience pain at

Have you ever been walking a large, rambunctious dog when he sees another dog or a squirrel? This type of quick, unpredictable jolt cans easily hyperextend your elbow. Let’s add dog walker eGroomer Journal Copyright © 2011 Find A Groomer Inc. All rights reserved 53 (Continued on page 54)

elbow to our list of potential problems. Hyperextension occurs when the elbow joint moves past its normal range of motion. It means the elbow joint bends slightly backwards. In more extreme situations the person may hear a popping sound. This can be painful and take several weeks to heal.

Remember to keep your elbows soft and lightly bent when reaching during any task. Thereby you can prevent this type of injury and speed up recovery.

If you’ve ever had your elbow lock or get stuck when trying to straighten your arm osteoarthritis may be the culprit. Sometimes bone fragments or cartilage can break off inside the joint and get caught between the two moving parts, causing the joint to catch in place until the debris shifts. This sticking commonly occurs while straightening the arm when holding a heavy load. For this reason I recommend lighter weights or resistance bands when strengthening after this type of injury. Triceps are large muscles and traditionally strengthened with heavy weights. However, when there is elbow pain and instability, resistance bands are your friend. This is the reason for the exercises chosen today.

I don’t know about you, but the terms auntie arms, chicken wings, bingo arms, and bat wings make me cringe. Unfortunately, this problem can be an ever increasing challenge as we age. Post menopausal women are more likely than men to develop a jiggle in the back of the arms due to a combination of poor muscle tone, thinning skin, breakdown of connective tissue and hormonal changes. Flabby arms can make it uncomfortable for some people to wear short sleeved tops. The triceps strengthening exercises below can help you tone this particular problem area as well as stabilizing painful elbows. It just takes a few minutes per day to perform these exercises and you can carry a band anywhere. If you don’t have a band, water bottles or light weights will work just fine.

Start the program with ten repetitions of each exercise per day working up to three sets. This is your first step to terrific toned triceps. Let’s leave the chicken wings to KFC. 54 Copyright © 2013 Find A Groomer Inc. All rights reserved Subscribe www.egroomer.com

W-Tricep Extension

Start this exercise with the band behind your back. Imagine touching your elbows together behind your back as you form a “W” with the elbows.

Remember to keep elbows soft as you extend both arms out in a slow, controlled motion counting to four as you extend and return to starting position.

Diamond Press

Start by closing hands into fists and bring them together in front of your breast bone. Keep hands together and thumbs up as you press bands away from the body.

With control return to the starting position.

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Side Arm Extension

Start by anchoring the left hand on the right shoulder. Remember you can have a fair amount of tension on the band as the triceps are strong muscles. Use slow, controlled movement to straighten and bend elbow. ◄

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vera Needham is a Medical Exercise Specialist, pilates trainer and has been a dog groomer for over 35 years. Vera invented the Tubee-Fit training tool for groomers. The Tubee has proven to be a wonderful addition to her older adult classes and in long term care facilities. If you have any Goomfit question or want more information about the Tubee contact Vera at groomfit@yahoo.com

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