Hi Guys.
I just started training BJJ about a month ago and am totally hooked. After 10 days of regular training i started feeling some pain around my elbows. The pain could be described as a numbing ache. It feels like it is located in the elbows but goes all the way up and down the arms. When i cool down after training it gradually goes away until I feel totally fine. Then i hit the gym again and the same thing happens. It has gradually gotten worsen until I lately I had to a rolling workout half way through bacause it was hurting so bad. I have not trained for a couple of days, and it really sucks.
I've been training through injuries doing muay thai for the last 10 years, but this is just different than anything i've dealt with before.
Could it just be that I am gripping my oppinents gi too hard?
Or am I simply not used to the wear and tear of bjj? I tap fast and have not gotten either one of my arms hyperextended since i started.
I have doctors appointment next week, but thought that maybe some of you guys have had similar issues and could help me out with some advice on this matter.
After you get done training, do you have a ferocious forarm pump? If so, that's your answer. You are gripping way too tight and too continously, before your tendons and ligaments have adapted to the new stimulous. It could also be that you are resisting armbars too long. If someone gets you, as Osiander says, you screwed up long ago, so you might as well tap. Soreness means overuse.
As far as what to do: Ice is your friend. I use ice nearly every time I get even the slightest discomfort after training. Pain means inflamation. Inflamation requires Ice. The sooner you address it the faster you'll heal. Secondly, stop doing the thing that is causing the problem. If you're gripping too tight, stop. If you are resisting tapping too long, don't.
Thanks for your response.
That makes sense. The wierd thing though is that the pain starts during or just after warming up.
In other words, long before i have a pump in my forearms.
But of course getting a pump and working hard for a while, makes it gradually worse until the pain is pretty significant.
I think I tap fast to armbars etc., but i'll try to tap even faster from now on.
I am torn on wether I shold try to roll or just wait til I see my doctor. But speaking from experience it is hard getting the right diagnose from a doctor that doesnt know anything about fighting/martial arts, how we train and how it affects the body.
I'd happily go there with a runners injury etc. but frankly, I would not be surprised if some of the guys on here would know better than my doctor when it comes to this..
I will defintitely put ice on it severel times a day over the next week.
it's likely from over use. Rest and massage are the only things that will help. If you continue, the elbow pain will persist and likely turn into tennis elbow or golfer's elbow. I've had both...in both elbows. Many guys I train with have as well as we tend to overuse grips.
they sale a wrap that goes on your forearm,it worked for me
Probably overuse and unstretched/weak forearm tendons/ligaments/muscles. To handle the load of BJJ with so much gripping it takes time to for this area of your body to adapt to the increase load. Tendons/ligamemts take more time than muscles to adapt. Now yo have to get the inflammation down. Ice is your best remedy. Ice massages from a a frozen water in a styrofoam cup is best. And if you go to a sports Orthopedic doctor he can recommend stretches/exercises or send you to PT.
i've had bicep and tricep tendinitis since i was a kid. bjj was hard to start because of this. compression of the muscles and tendons has helped me. before training i wrap both arms really tight with an ace bandage and then on top of that i wear arm braces. i also stretch my forearms, biceps and triceps a lot before and after i train. after training i wear hyperice sport compression sleeves on both arms to prevent inflammation or at least reduce it.
Shark tank- ART is one phase of PT that can help. I had ART for 3 months with a hip issue. It helps with the overall function but not necessary a cure all. PT uses the friction massage he talks about. But PT has the whole gamut in my opinion. And I have had both golfers and tennis elbow and PT was the answer along with a cortisone shot at the end of PT to remove the remaining inflammation.
It nay have to do with being on the bottom alot and supporting your opponents weight often... 
I remember when I first started jiu jitsu having a dull ache all the time in my elbows for a while until my tendons/ligaments adapted to the stress put on them with training. It eventually went away, but it took a while. Just my personal experience.
If it turns out to be tennis/golf/bjj elbow, Theraband makes a flexbar that's really helped me in the past.