[pct-l] Poles and painful elbows

Hello All -

In the good discussion about using trekking poles, Dave E. said:

>The second problem I have, especially while snowshoeing using poles
>for a long period of time, is tendonitus in my right elbow. This
>originally has nothing to do with the poles, but rather throwing too
>many curve balls as a youth; unfortunately hiking poles exacerbates
>the problem.

I also am fighting a bout of tendonitus in my right elbow.  This 
problem really showed up after I did a stint on the CDT last fall. 
At first the elbow pain was almost a welcome reminder of a great 
Aug-Sep hike...but, it kinda started to wear thin by Thanksgiving!

My doc and I have tried to isolate just what I was doing that caused 
this painful problem (not much tennis on the high trail in southern 
CO...).  He took me through the motions of all my common repetitive 
actions that we could think of (BTW, I did not use trekking poles or 
any kind of hiking stick this last time out).

We think that we have identified a strong contender for the cause: 
the way that I take off and put on my pack.  I try to keep my pack 
weight down (very rarely ever get over 25 lbs total pack weight), but 
we noticed that I was allowing a lot of "negative" leverage to act 
against my right elbow as I took it off and put it on.  Once we 
realized what was happening, it has been easy to work out a way to 
get in/out of my pack that doesn't tend to zap any particular part of 
me.

I was curious as to why this elbow problem didn't show up during my 
prior thousands of miles of hiking.  If we agree to discount all the 
grey hair and aging bones (!), I am left with the perception that 
this has been caused by a change in my actions (rather than being 
caused by a change in me <g>).

It didn't take much reflection to realize that I HAVE changed the way 
that I handle my pack as I have gotten its weight lower and lower 
over the years.   My current pack is quite a bit lighter than my AT 
or early PCT packs were.  In fact, it feels so good that I still 
catch myself trying to handle it like it doesn't weigh much of 
anything at all...therein lies the rub.

Hmmmm...could Monte be right about trying to go lightweight after all...

- Charlie II     AT  ME-GA '93
                      PCT  Mex@Can '95
                Chipping away at the CDT

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