UCL Tear One Year Later

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Dr./Dr.

46 year old male, 18 months post SS NLP, and work with an SSC.

Somehow my left elbow “popped” during low bar squats approximately one year ago. My PCP diagnosed a UCL tear using a “milking maneuver” test. I tried to train through it and switched to a thumbs around grip, but as my squat sets reached the mid to upper 300s the pain in my elbow became increasingly severe and it had a carry-over affect on bench and press. (My left arm would experience hours of temporary weakness which would compromise my pressing movements. It was difficult just re-racking the plates after squats.)

I switched to HB squats in order to continue training with the thought that time would eventually heal the elbow and let me resume LB squats. Unfortunately, I still can’t get my left arm in position to create an adequate shelf for LB squats without severe pain. To add insult to injury, as I have gotten my HB Squat progressivlely heavier it is starting to make my old man knees more and more sore.

My question is what, if any, diagnostic, treatment, and/or training modification might you employ if you had a similar elbow injury? I am especially wary of spending $1000 out-of-pocket on an MRI if it is likely to prove inconclusive. (That’s $1000 I could put toward coaching after all.)

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

2

It sounds like you don’t have a confirmed diagnosis, to be honest. In which case we can’t really recommend any specific treatment.

You’ve already done the training modifications we’d recommend (switching to high bar, for example). SSB may be another option if you have access to it, or just modifying the volume and intensity of your squatting so your knees tolerate it better.