DietVet:
I HAVE gotten help from sports docs in the past. Actually, my very first injury was a stress fracture in the femoral neck. One wrong step off a curb and I could have had pins put in my leg....I developed the injury from running...too much too soon too fast. I was just so new to everything I really didn't know any better and I just accepted pain. Pain is not normal and it is the body's warning signal to get something checked out. Think of it as the emergency light on the dash of your car. In my case, it took crutches for two months and complete rest for half a year before I was good again. But, it wouldn't have taken as long
if I would have had it looked at sooner.
On a different note, I had developed plantar fasciitis two years ago. Stupid jump rope....got the bug and couldn't put the thing down even though I couldn't walk across the room the rest of the day. I put off seeing a podiatrist for six months. I was convinced I could heal this myself. Finally, I went in to have it evaluated. They taped is up and the relief I felt immediately was euphoria. Seriously. I loved these people and wanted to take them home with me.
The down side of this is that that PF injury lead to a secondary injury with my knee during an overhead squat (unweighted) movement. Not surprising right...the foot is the base of the kinetic chain and it's ALL connected.
My point is, if you are in pain and it's been going on longer than a week or two go get it checked out. Save yourself the frustration. Sometimes its is nothing more than rest, ice, compression, and anti inflammatories, but sometimes, there is more to the picture. Also, we learn a lot from the physical therapy sessions that can enhance our development of fitness in the long term.
Second Question: Yes. If you can do lower body work without compromising the injury of your elbow by all means do it. Won't lead to crazy disparity between upper and lower. It will be good in the sense that you continue to keep your workouts part of your schedule and the lower body carries larger muscles=greater caloric expenditure..etc. It will also just make you feel happier to be able to do this.
Third Question: I doubt that your injuries are a result of nutritional deficiency. However, I don't know how your eating/ or not eating...so I can't say for certain. Might be another good question to address with a sport doc/nutritionist.
My guess though would be that you are missing more of the fundamental things in your programming such as proper activation before working out, might want to look at frequency of lifting as well as your technique. I know you are doing NROLFW which is solid. Maybe it would be helpful to have a good trainer look at the form as well just to be sure you are spot on with that. These movements that reflect everyday should not induce pain however there may be some limitations in your range of motion that are causing some of the inefficiencies to surface. Do you foam roll? Might be something else to consider before and after your workout as well.
Rhonda:
Hang in there. I would be sad too without deadlifts. Are you seeing any improvement? Are rack pulls an option? Don't attempt it if you really have pain with slight knee flexion. I'm finding that my deadlifts and pulls are much less annoying in the past few weeks. I have meniscus in the left knee that kind of "catches" and I have a second before it slips into place and then I'm good.(At least up until this past week) We did our 1RM deadlifts last week and the coach tweaked my stance a little and guess what NO CATCHING. I needed to set my hips just a little bit higher when I approach the bar. Freaking amazing. I had no idea I was squatting as low as I was. It really takes an experienced eye to catch these little things and I never suggested to him that I was having trouble with this in the first place. He saw it when I was doing warm up reps...I was consistently readjusting after the first pull. Anyway, just a thought. I want you to have your deadlifts back too!