Armbar Injury: First Steps
Unfortunately we’ve all been there. ‘Flow rolls’ turn into a heated battle and then your gut turns inside out when you feel that tweak, pop or snap in your elbow. Sudden pain followed by panic. You’ve officially joined the club of those with an armbar injury.
Where should you turn next? What are the first steps?
You don’t want to (and shouldn’t!) let a painful elbow keep you from training, but you shouldn’t ignore the injury either.
Here yo go, the best first steps for an armbar injury to keep you training and healing at the same time.
Step 1: Armbar injury: Damage in your elbow?
Good results come from a good plan. To create a good plan, you need to understand the elbow joint and the common parts injured. Read more on this HERE. Now you can take the right steps and start the right treatment to get your elbow back to 100%. Watch our video below covering the elbow and the structures most likely to be hurt.
Step 2: Should you get an X-ray?
Armbars work because they hyperextend the elbow joint. The elbow mechanically locks (bone on bone), which means, an armbar injury creates the potential for a fracture or bony injury. If you have either, the next step in your rehab plan would be getting an x-ray.
Research shows the ‘Elbow 4-Way Range of Movement Test’ is an effective way to rule out an elbow fracture. Give it a go following the video below, however this is meant to be educational and helpful. Please always see a professional for a full diagnosis.
Step 3: Get Your Armbar Injury Pain Under Control
Armbars often leave you with pain in the elbow. Both at rest and when you bend/straighten your elbow. The first goal in a good rehab plan is to regain complete pain-free movement. Our Free Armbar injury Guide can get you started. The video below explains one of our favorite joint treatments. (You will find this in Phase 1 of our Armbar Injury Rehab Course). This will help bring your pain down by 50% or more. Try it.
What Next?
Armbar injures happen. The good news is, they can be fixed. A good rehab plan follows 3 phases:
1. Control Phase (Get your symptoms under control and keep training pain free).
2. Build Phase (Build up the damaged structures to handle as much training as you want to throw at them).
3. Maintain/Sustain Phase (Keep the improvements you worked hard for and focus on injury prevention for the long-term).
We have helped hundred of athletes solve their injuries. We can help you too. We’ve made an armbar injury course covering the exact steps we’ve used over and over again to get injured athletes back to 100% and training like they want. Check it out.
