I am still dealing with this annoying, and sometimes excruciating, pain in my left elbow. For those of you who may be confused, the *right* elbow issue I was contending with last fall did eventually heal in December. About that same time, my *left* elbow began to show similar signs. My hypothesis is that, because I had shifted all of the lifting duties to my left hand during that healing period, I just put additional strain on *that* arm. Yes, I did attempt a few Moeller technique exercises, but I had learned my lesson from the first elbow and was *not* trying to play like Grohl or Hawkins anymore. At my age, I think those days are over. If I want to continue to play for the rest of my life, I need to honor and accept *my* playing technique and work within the limitations of my (aging) body.

If any of you have suffered this fate, you know how painful it can be. I have done SO much reading on the subject, and tried so many different healing and pain-management methods, I feel like I am slowly becoming an expert on the subject. My rehearsal and show schedule does not allow me much time to just stop playing for days or weeks on end, so I just have to be as careful as I can. I tried using heat treatment this time, but found that it just seems to make things feel worse, so I now just ice it down after I play. That, and popping two ibuprofen before I play, seem to get me through. I’m just hoping that I am not doing some sort of long-term damage. I try to hold back as much as I can when I play, to make sure I’m not pushing myself too far. This has been a light rehearsal week, and American Honey only has one show this weekend, so I am hoping the extra healing time will show some benefit.

More on this again soon. I just wanted to post an update for those of you who are aware of this challenge I’ve been facing lately. Now, go beat some drums really loudly for me, and I’ll catch up with you again soon. 😉