[jseth]

As with all my lower back "drama", I don't know that I would use the description "permanently recovered" regarding any sort of major physical trauma... it's more a question of learning to "manage" both the pain and the condition...

With that in mind, I had fairly severe tendonitis 7 or 8 years ago; through different stretching techniques, Chinese meditation balls and self-massage, I have it pretty well under control...

When my elbows/wrists hurt a lot, I couldn't hold a golf club or wrap my hands around a guitar neck for long, if at all... now, I play quite a bit, about as much as I want, although I will mention that my days of obsessive practicing have been over for decades (!); the amount I play is more like when I want, or when I'm working on a new tune or a new song to perform, and playing gigs, which for me are solo acoustic guitar and voice.

There are a lot of different avenues of treatment available that have worked for many; one physical therapist I saw had a brother who was a nationally-ranked "Long Drive" professional, and he told me that NOTHING worked for his brother, until he put one of those stupid bracelets around his wrist that are supposed to balance the flow of energy through your body... and THAT worked for him! The upshot of this was the PT telling me to try anything, that it's still mysterious how and why certain things work for that problem...

Personally, I would ALWAYS want the result, as opposed to knowing "why". I'd say to start researching different avenues of treatment and start with the ones that seem most appealing to you. I am NOT a huge fan of Western Medicine, and being a self-employed musician/songwriter without insurance, I nearly always find the most cost effective treatment available for any physical issues with which I have had to deal throughout my 63 years (well, 46 years on my own).

Although you didn't say that you have a problem with tendonitis, I wish you best of luck and fortune with it if you do... believe me, YOU CAN DEAL WITH IT and still do the things you love to do!