After playing tennis for over ten years, I developed Tendinosis in my elbow after playing tennis on old strings while not warming up enough in cold weather. Plus, as a homemaker I was carrying a very heavy sweeper up the stair, doing lots of laundry, gardening, playing tennis too frequently ect.... Needless to say my elbow gets much use. And, I am at the ripe age for what all the medical sites say for developing TE- 45. Now for the review. I bought the Thera-band flexbar because I was at my wits end. I bought the red one. The Thera-band flexbar did not help because I started it too early in my treatment while my elbow was still too sensitive/pain for the strengthening part of treatment. I can see how this could be more helpful as a strengthening, flexibility exercise once the elbow tendons are more healed. But, in my opinion it is not for the first or second phase or treatment, but could be more for the third. 1. rest 2. stretching 3. strengthening. Please note on one website, I read it takes 100 days for the elbow to have started to rebuild the collagen. Well, after going to a physical therapist for five visits and waiting about 100 days (hmm) my elbow is finally feeling much better. Haven't started to use Thera-band flexbar or playing tennis again, but I could see that happening in a few more months. If I could sell patience for people who have Tennis Elbow (tendinosis) - I would.

Thus far I am happy with the product and with the variety of exercises one can do with it. However, I purchased it to help heal and prevent "tennis elbow" and since I have not played for a couple of months (winter weather), I will not know the final results until sometime this summer.

I bought the thera band for golfer's elbow and have been using under the instruction of a physical therapist. I have yet to see any benefit, however, I have used it for my shoulders and am pleased with the results.

With a limited us of this product, 3 weeks, there have been little or no results in helping the elbow pain that was mentioned in Reader's Digest to help with tennis elbow. I'll give it a few more months.

The Thera-Band works very well but only after an extensive search on the internet for instructions. The instructions that come with the product just show pictures with minimal wording and are not very good. "Reader's Digest" recommended the Thera-Band for tennis elbow and that is why I bought it. The instructions that came with the Thera-Band do not even address tennis elbow. After doing an internet search, we found good, detailed instructions on how to use the band for tennis elbow. These instructions should be included. After using the internet instructions, I could tell a difference in the strength of my arm.

I tried the soft (red) bar somewhere for twisting motion and liked it but it was too soft for me. I purchased the meduim stiffness one and after trying it a few times for twisting motion I gave up using it. The twisting motion creates too much friction on palm of my hands and after a few minutes my skin starts burning. Now I only use it for flexing which works better without skin irritation. However, the flexing motion range is rather small and starts too easily and ends too hard. It is just a small range of motion that the resistance is just right. This is a problem with all spring-like devices as opposed to dead weight resistance. So, not a total loss but not as good as I thought it would be.

I purchased this brand and model to compare against the Cando twist-n-bend, which is a very similar product. The Thera-Band Company makes quality products and some of them are designed for very fit individuals. However, the Flexbar heavy model is not a product for a person of even moderate strength. It is far to easy to twist and bend this model to get a decent workout. The Flexbar heavy, medium, and light models are better suited for people going through rehabilitation, those that lack upper body strength, and teenagers whose muscles have not fully developed. Although the material ingredients are a little bit better quality than the Cando twist-n-bend, the Cando extra heavy model, which Thera-band does not have a similar model, is designed for strong athletes, martial artists, boxer, wrestlers, bouncers and many others. The Cando model is also cheaper.I should have spent my money on another Cando twist-n-bend instead of the Flexbar.