Oh No Elbow Injury suffered

[ProdigyOfZen]

So, I competed in NAGA southwest championships this past weekend in Fort Worth, TX.

I had a complete adrenaline dump in my first match (won 6-0) and only had one match in between my next match to rest (about 5-6mins). That guy had a by and was fresh. I was so shot i could not lift my arms for 2nd match.

I take the guy down into a guillotine choke but with no strength in my arms he eventually gets out. I didn't even have the ability to wrap him up in guard or bring my other arm over to grab my arm under his neck. He gets side control and attacks my left arm with key lock.

He is cranking it but not super fast or anything. Now my shoulders are the most flexible part of my body and keylocks/americana's rarely work on me before the person gives up the submission attempt.

I feel no pain at all and then all of a sudden my elbow pops, he immediately stops and looks at the Ref like "his elbow popped" I replied "dude it didn't hurt it is fine." He commences to go further and I basically told the guy, I have no energy I will tap for you and I did. He said he was about to let it go because he was so far back and it wasn't affecting me.

Maybe the way he twisted my elbow it made it pop but I felt fine afterwards and my arm had complete range of motion. I have a small bruise on the medial side of my elbow and it is tender but no swelling. Sunday I started to suspect that I may have torn my UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) the one baseball players tear when they need tommy john surgery and are out for 1 1/2 years.

Went to doctor and he said to take 8 weeks off and that he doesn't feel any instability in the elbow but that my symptoms are consistent with a UCL tear.

I am getting an MRI for peace of mind for me just to see if it is maybe sprained (torn a little or more than that).

Either way i do not want this injury. I still have all my strength and this is my non throwing arm. Don't know what to do.

 

[El Beebo]

Either way i do not want this injury. I still have all my strength and this is my non throwing arm. Don't know what to do.

Prepare for a lot of rehab. Regardless of the outcome of the MRI, because it's your nondominant arm (and you're not a major league pitcher), there's no way surgery will be warranted. I had mine popped years ago (same way--keylock) and am still bothered with problems.

 

[ProdigyOfZen]

Oh yea forgot one thing. I was not trying "not to tap" and to be a tough guy. The keylock did not hurt at all, there was no pain just all of a sudden my elbow popped. Hopefully some muscles just pulled or the ligaments slide on my bone to cause the popping sound as opposed to a tear. We will see with the MRI.

 

[MrCreosote]

Do you have any pain? Is there a full range of motion? Does it feel stable against light resistance? If the answer is yes then it is extremely unlikely that you have suffered a severe injury?

The other thing to think about is " do I really need an MRI?" It is a potentially very expensive test and many times the results are inconclusive. If your elbow is wrecked you know it. The greatest peace of mind is if the joint is performing well. If it isn't performing well than get the test and prepare for an operation. Not that you will necessarily need one but if its recommended make sure to get a second( and possibly third) opinion.

Also, ask the Orthopedist what he specializes in. Almost all ortho guys do a fellowship and specialize in one branch total joints, peds, trauma etc. You want to see either a hand or sports guy.

Good luck with the elbow and let us know how it turns out.

 

[ProdigyOfZen]

Do you have any pain? Is there a full range of motion? Does it feel stable against light resistance? If the answer is yes then it is extremely unlikely that you have suffered a severe injury?

The other thing to think about is " do I really need an MRI?" It is a potentially very expensive test and many times the results are inconclusive. If your elbow is wrecked you know it. The greatest peace of mind is if the joint is performing well. If it isn't performing well than get the test and prepare for an operation. Not that you will necessarily need one but if its recommended make sure to get a second( and possibly third) opinion.

Also, ask the Orthopedist what he specializes in. Almost all ortho guys do a fellowship and specialize in one branch total joints, peds, trauma etc. You want to see either a hand or sports guy.

Good luck with the elbow and let us know how it turns out.

Yea, I went to the ortho this morning (hand, elbow, shoulder specialist) and he said he did not feel any instability in the elbow using his standard tests. ( I assume the valgus test or whatever)

He said "the symptoms you have described "bruising on the inside of the elbow where the UCL is (only a very light bruise) and the loud popping sound at time of injury are consistent with a UCL tear"

My elbow popped only one time and there was no pain, plus this happened saturday and the bruise is almost gone.

The Ortho did not want to give me an MRI. I had an X-ray done to check the bones etc and he said take 8 weeks to see how it feels. Do light wrist curls up and down etc but no push ups or benching as that puts stress on the UCL.

I personally asked for the MRI for peace of mind for me haha. Pushing and pulling feels fine but if i try to move it back n forth like in a throwing motion it causes pain. Again this is my non throwing arm.

Hopefully it comes out to be just a grade I sprain/tear. I think I may go see a specific sports Ortho for this here in Dallas.

 

[ProdigyOfZen]

Bump and run