You Got Arm-Bared in Jiu-Jitsu?
Did you Just Get Arm-Bared in Jiu-Jitsu? Did you tap too late or hear a couple pops? Well, you are not alone and if you do jiu-jitsu, this is a common problem! As a Chiropractor and Jiu-Jitsu Practitioner for more than 10 years, this is a very common problem I see
Don’t wait for others to fix your problem, learn to do it yourself with guidance!
What is this injury?
When you hyperextend your elbow in any sport, you can cause injury to the surrounding tissues but the main structures that are affected are the inside of the elbow called medial epicondyle. At this site, there are the flexor tendons that attach there and even deeper within the elbow are the ligaments.
A hyperextension injury is often disruption to the UCL or Ulnar Collateral Ligament.
What does taping do?
Taping the local area does not fix the problem but if you are in a fair amount of pain or discomfort, it may be a good idea to learn how to avoid creating more irritation to it. That is where taping is great.
This video below shows what you can do to help avoid further hyperextension of the injury and at the same time, provide support to the elbow and ligaments. View the video to learn how to tape the arm bar injury.
I popped my elbow during Jiu-Jitsu!
That popping noise can be a few reason. When the arm and a joint is under strain and at the full end range it can reach is physiologic end range. Meaning, it reaches the end of its normal motion. At that end there can be a release of gas and pressure. This is typically the first pop.
If you continue to go past the joints normal end range, you will reach the state where there can be joint damage and disruption of the soft tissue. Often times, the immense pressure on the ligaments can give rise to a pop which can indicate that they have been damaged.
This can be graded from 1-3, which a 3 being a complete tear.
View this video to see the evaluation process.
How long will this take to fix?
Hard question but generally, this will last about 3 months. Pain relief is about 6 weeks, and if you really want to train without the worry or thought of a problem being there, you will need to put in at least another 6 weeks or treatment and rehab.
What does treatment look like?
Treatment should not only encompass pain relief, but focus on soft tissue healing, rehabilitation, strengthening the joint. The video listed below is a link to what the Graston technique looks like!
Here is a video of us showing some treatment for an arm bar and jiu-jitsu injury. If you want to learn how to treat your own injury view our store!