How Matt Furey Fixed My Damaged Tendons

About a month ago I was doing my third set of pull ups. I was struggling and straining to get a few more in before letting go of the bar. I was fighting it hard…straining every muscle in my body to reach my goal.

Yep…that’s when I blew out the tendons in my right arm. Very nasty!

Let me tell you, I’ve had many injuries during the last 24 years of practicing martial arts. But I’d have to put this one in a category of its own. Let’s just say that damaged tendons serve up a UNIQUE sort of pain.

I’ll give you some examples…

Though my tendons were damaged, I was still able to beat the heavy bag with full power. I could do all the push-ups I wanted with no pain. Jumping rope didn’t hurt me a bit. Neither did elbow strikes, twist sit ups, shadow boxing or jumping jacks.

However, picking up a coffee cup could instantly result in excruciating pain. Reaching for my electric razor one morning nearly sent me to my knees. Taking a suit coat off a hanger one day almost made me cry like a little baby and so on.

I kept thinking, “What’s up with this?’

Clearly, there’s a big difference between movements that involve muscles and movements that involve tendons. When you have tendon damage, you learn right away which is which.

Anyhow, last week I was having lunch with my good friend  since 1999 (see photo) and business associate Matt Furey. I mentioned that my right arm was injured in the elbow area upon receiving a powerful and playful handshake from his son Frank.

After grabbing my arm and making a few movements and palpations, Matt immediately diagnosed the problem.

“Tendon damage,” he said.

Then after a brief talkin’-to about not doing pull ups the WRONG WAY in the future, Matt gifted me with all the knowledge I needed to begin fixing the problem. (In case you don’t know, Matt is a true master at solving all kinds of problems ranging from health to business.)

First, he showed me several exercises that instantly attacked the affected area. The various “tiger claw” and “chicken beak-like” hand movements he taught me immediately caused my damaged tendons to sing at the top of their lungs. ‘You found it,” I cried.

The injury was discreetly tucked away deep in the area between the bones of my lower and upper arm, on the lateral side.

What’s interesting is that before Matt showed me these interesting hand and finger movements, I was not even able to make my right arm hurt when trying. The area was tough to get to. It would just hurt throughout the day whenever I moved it a certain way and least expected it.

So this was great. Suddenly, I was able to work the damaged tendons at will and this enabled me to begin the recovery process.

Matt then showed me how to properly massage the injured area to break up adhesions and increase blood flow to injury.

Next, he showed me how to “dig into” the damaged tendons and work the entire meridian line from my elbow down to my hand. This was extremely painful, but I have a high pain tolerance, so it was fine by me. Bring it on! I just wanted to get better…

Lastly, Matt recommended several Chinese herbs to be taken in liquid form; Dit Da Jow and Zheng Gu Shui. The latter being his preference.

After three days of applying the techniques Matt showed me, I noticed a miraculous change. At first, the pain actually increased. But that only lasted about two days. Now the pain has come way down and is almost gone.

Thanks to Matt, I have a marked improvement in my right arm in less than a week. My pain has gone from an eight to a two.

It goes without saying that I’m extremely grateful for Matt’s advice and I’m well on the road to recovery. So I thought I’d pass this knowledge along to you here on my blog.

Hopefully, you’ll never need Matt’s advice on how to repair damaged tendons. But now you have a basic idea of what to do just in case.

Even more, Matt may soon be releasing a program on how to strengthen tendons for power, conditioning, health and enhancing athletic performance. If he does, I’ll be sure to let you know more about it. Many people train their muscles. But how many people do you know who actually know how to properly train their tendons?

2 Responses to “How Matt Furey Fixed My Damaged Tendons”

1. Kathy Long says:

   September 23, 2009 at 10:09 am

   I had what sounds like, the exact same problem… It really interfered with training for my first MMA fight, then when I managed to get my arm healthy, I hurt my shoulder. I found someone who works with A.R.T. Therapy, (Active RElease Technique) where he goes to the effected tendons,and muscles pressing applying direct pressure while moving your arm in full range of motion. Extremely painful, but it works!! I would love a book on how to properly train my tendons!! Maybe then, I will have less injurys!! Thanks much!! kat
2. Stan says:

   July 8, 2010 at 3:16 pm

   Thanks for the awesome post!