What is Tendinopathy?
Ever had that nagging pain in your tendons that won’t go away?
That’s probably tendinopathy!
It’s when the tendons, tough bands that connect muscle to bone, get overused or injured.
This can happen with repetitive activities like running, typing or lifting. Often if you build up a bit too quickly or start pushing the intensity.
Microtears in the tendon without adequate time to recover can cause collagen disruption, cellular changes and changes to the nerves and blood supply to the tendon.
Unlike strains, tendinopathy is more of a slow burn, causing stiffness, pain and sometimes swelling.
If you are dealing with it, reducing the activity might help in the short term but a tendon loading rehabilitation programme is key and early treatment can really help nip it in the bud!
Who Is Most At Risk From Tendinopathy?
Active people with high training volume in repetitive sports. This includes runners (achilles), swimmers (rotator cuff), jumping athletes (patella)
Sedentary people - poor muscle strength means tendons are less protected and able to cope with any demands placed on them.
People with certain medical conditions such as Diabetes and Rheumatoid Arthrtis, this is due to changes in the collagen structure and blood supply of the tendons.
Overweight and Obese people. This places more load through tendons but is also inflammatory for the body.
Women, especially post menopause. Oestrogen plays a role in tendon health and it’s decrease after menopause makes women more susceptible.
Overall, tendinopathy is most common in those who repeatedly stress their tendons without allowing adequate time for recovery as well as those whose tendons are weakened by age, lifestyle or underlying health conditions.
What Is The Best Treatment For Tendinopathy?
The best evidence-based treatment for tendinopathy involve therapies aimed at reducing pain, promoting tendon healing and restoring function.Here’s some of the best things you can do to resolve the condition:
Load Management - adjusting activities to avoid overloading the tendon whilst maintaining some movement to promote tendon adaptation. Tendons need time to heal but too little activity causes them to weaken.
Tendon Loading Exercises - these can help reduce pain, promote collagen production and improve tendon strength. Gradually increase load over time builds tendon capacity and restores function.
Physiotherapy - manual therapy can help with pain relief, joint mobility, soft tissue tightness and movement efficiency.
Make positive lifestyle choices to aid recovery such as adequate sleep, nutritious diet, reducing alcohol and losing weight.
Steroid injections, antiflammatories, ultrasound and PRP injections all have low quality evidence and should not be part of gold standard treatment for tendinopathy.
The best treatment is multimodal, focusing on tendon loading, whilst optimising recovery and positive lifestyle choices.
