Tendinopathy

Tendinopathy is an umbrella term that covers a range of tendon disorders typically characterized by pain, swelling, and impaired function. It may include inflammation from overuse and stress or degeneration of the tendon without inflammation.

The pain from tendinopathy can impact your daily life, leading to reduced functionality and limitations in performing everyday activities.

At Impact Sports & Spine, we focus on non-surgical and minimally-invasive treatments for optimal healing, ensuring minimum complications and faster recovery.

A tendon is a strong, fibrous, rope-like connective tissue that attaches muscles to bones. It enables movement by transmitting the force generated by muscle contractions to the skeletal system. 

Tendinopathy affects your tendons, causing pain, swelling, and impaired function. It includes both tendinitis and tendinosis. This condition is commonly seen with sports injuries. 

Tendinopathy can occur anywhere in your body. Common locations where tendinopathy occurs include:

• Achilles Tendon: This tendon connects the calf muscles to the heel bone, helping with walking, running, jumping, and standing on tiptoe. 
• Patellar Tendon: This tendon connects the kneecap to the shinbone, helping with the extension of the knee joint and serving an essential role in activities such as walking, running, jumping, and squatting. 
• Hamstring Tendons: These tendons, which extend down the back of the thigh from the lower buttock to behind the knee, promote knee flexion and hip extension.
• Gluteal Tendons: These tendons attach at the lateral hip and play a critical role in pelvic stability.
• Rotator Cuff: These tendons surround the shoulder joint, providing stability and allowing a wide range of motion in the shoulder. Tendinopathy in the rotator cuff commonly affects athletes and workers who perform repetitive overhead movements.
• Lateral Epicondyle: This is the location on the outer portion of the elbow, where tendinopathy is commonly referred to as tennis elbow.  
• Medial Epicondyle: This is the location on the inner portion of the elbow, where tendinopathy is commonly referred to as the golfer’s elbow.  

You may experience pain or tenderness in your tendons along with some of the following symptoms: 

• Burning sensation
• Reduced mobility in your joints
• Feeling a crackling or grating sensation when moving your joint
• Muscle weakness and loss of strength
• Inflammation
• Joint stiffness
• Swelling in and around a joint

Repetitive strain or overuse of a tendon during activities such as sports, work, or hobbies is the most common cause of tendinopathy. Common factors that may put stress on the tendon include: 

• Repetitive physical movements
• High-intensity training
• Muscle strain
• Poor posture
• Improper technique
• Lack of flexibility
• Lack of strength

Tendinopathy may become chronic when you experience frequent minor injuries that do not heal completely. Repeated activities, in this case, may cause collagen fibers to break down over time.

Tendinopathy is not seen in athletes alone. People who work jobs requiring repetitive actions or who lead sedentary lifestyles can also develop the condition. 

An inactive lifestyle contributes to poor blood circulation in the tendons. When someone with poor blood circulation suddenly increases their activity, it may put stress on the tendon, causing inflammation and pain. 

Tendinopathy can affect people of all ages, but some people are more likely than others to develop tendinopathy. Risk factors for tendinopathy include:

• Older age
• Jobs requiring repetitive motion
• Certain medications, like fluoroquinolones
• Certain medical conditions, like gout, diabetes, or dyslipidemia
• Unhealthy weight
• Poor muscle strength

We perform comprehensive physical examinations of the affected area to find the underlying cause of your pain. We also perform a diagnostic ultrasound to look for changes in your tendon, such as stiffness, thickness, disorganized and misaligned tendon fibers, and tears. When needed, we may order an MRI to further evaluate the condition of a given tendon.  

Treatment for tendinopathy depends on the affected tendon. Common treatments may include:

• Activity modification, such as altered training methods to temporarily reduce the load on an affected body part
• Physical therapy involves eccentric exercises to strengthen your muscles and tendons
• Deep-friction massage and other manual therapies help generate new collagen fibers, reduce your pain, and increase your strength
• Topical medications that improve blood flow to an affected tendon, such as nitroglycerin patches.
• Advanced, image-guided injections that can successfully reduce the pain of tendinopathy and improve function.  

You can prevent tendinopathy by incorporating the following methods:

• Ensure the correct technique is used during sports or activities to reduce strain on your tendons.
• Increase the intensity and duration of activities slowly to allow your tendons to adapt.
• Perform regular exercises to maintain muscle strength and flexibility.
• Make ergonomic adjustments to workstations or tools to reduce strain on the tendons.

Tendinopathy is a common and often debilitating condition, but you may return to your normal activities with appropriate treatment and preventive measures.  

At Impact Sports & Spine, we focus on providing high-quality non-surgical care for acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries and spinal conditions. Our team focuses on uncovering the root cause of your condition rather than merely treating the symptoms. 

To schedule a consultation with our skilled practitioners, call us at 301-363-9693 or request an appointment online.