The Elbow situation- UPDATE and CONCLUSION!

I fell pretty lucky that I have not had any physical issues during my 35 years of drumming but last year saw my first worrisome injury
Of course, there was always the banged up knuckles from bashing but I developed problems with my left elbow when playing for the traditional Ramones Tribute band in 2017
The injury was a result of over practicing a technique that I had never really used before
For the un-initiated, playing Ramones music on the drums involves playing the hi hat very fast
The secret to this technique is to smooth out all the normal dynamics, replacing the punches and stabs with an even wash of 8th notes
I have been playing 90% punches and stabs for my entire drumming existence and my muscle memory was pretty much set in stone
Things would have been OK but I insisted on overdoing it which resulted in micro tears in my elbow muscles
I was gigging with the traditional tribute band and was experiencing pain but it was encouraging that I didn’t really feel much pain during the shows
My last gig with them was Sept 9th 2017 and I have not played the drums since then

There is no more pain in my arm and I finally saved up enough money to see an orthopedic doctor because I wanted an official diagnosis
The news was very good and I should be able to start back to playing again
Of course, I learned my lesson and won’t be sitting in front of the TV playing 8th notes on a pad for hours
This is a huge relief for me because I am getting older and the drums are the most physical of all musical instruments
My overactive anxiety riddled brain couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be a serious injury and a huge weight has been lifted off me
The Doctor remarked that it was evident that I knew how to stretch and warm up properly because my muscles were in good shape for the amount of years I have been playing drums
Let this be a lesson to you young whippersnappers
No matter what the activity, stretching and warming up can extend your physical abilities for decades

I am going to need to get back into shape because I plan to re-record my entire library within the next year or so
I currently have 50 drum parts recorded for Live Ramones Karaoke and plan to expand my setlist to 100 songs
I want to have someone assist me this time so that I can get a better recording so I need to be as efficient and quick as possible
This means that i will need to be in great shape for those tracks and I feel good that I will be able to achieve that goal