Elbow Pain

[mudmucker]

Last year I had left elbow pain. It was fine in the beginning of the season and crept up at the end. I don't know what really caused it but I'll list off some observations. I don't have it this year, because I paid attention to my observations and was able to resolve it.

As my core strengthens more through the season I may change out a stem or tweak the saddle a little. If I feel a glitch or pain I'll tweak, so adjustments won't be the same from the beginning of the season to the end. But with each tweak for the good, there may be an unknown other repercussion that doesn't show up till later. I think I also have a leg length discrepancy that I have not professionally addressed. I think it causes me to adjust my torso or hips so that they might be twisted in some way, which you can imagine can cause other things to be mis-aligned. But I had slightly moved my saddle to the left in the middle of last season to adjust for back pain, pedal efficiency, and saddle soreness which I think was a result of the leg length difference. The adjustment worked fine for these ailments but I noticed my left elbow hurting. This season as I started out, the saddle was in the same position and my left elbow began to hurt again. I moved the saddle back so the nose was completely in line with the top tube and the elbow pain went away. I never did get those other ailments back either. So, check your saddle alignment - even a few mm makes a difference. I suspect that my torso/body was forced out of alignment causing me to lean on that side. If your saddle is straight, you still could have uneven torso alignment due to other things I suppose, like the saddle being a little too high, or one leg longer than the other or a weak core. You could be so slightly out of alignment that you might not notice it on the bike, but so slight can still have dramatic results.

I also suspected my handlebars were too wide causing my arms to be at an awkward angle. I swapped out my 40's for 38's and all is good.

I got a longer stem. This put me at a different angle where my weight was displaced a little more to the rear, and less on the front.

Also, I am right side dominant and my left is weaker.

I also injured my left wrist a few years ago. It has healed and although it seems to be fine, it could very well be weak even though I don't notice it.