What Causes Tendonitis?
Tendonitis, or an inflamed tendon, can affect any tendon in your body. Since tendons connect muscles to bones, the pain caused by tendonitis makes it hard to move the affected body part.
The most common causes of tendonitis include:
- Tendon strain
- Repetitive movement
- Excessive training
- Increasing the duration or intensity of your exercise
- Inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis
- Calcium deposits on the tendon
Tendonitis that goes untreated causes progressive soft tissue damage, leading to a partial tear or complete tendon rupture.
What are the Most Common Types of Tendonitis?
If you’re active in sports, chances are you’re familiar with some of the most common types of tendonitis:
- Golfer’s elbow
- Tennis elbow
- Rotator cuff tendonitis
- Jumper’s knee
- Achilles tendonitis
- Biceps tendonitis
- De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
Tendonitis also frequently occurs in your ankle.
What Symptoms Develop Due to Tendonitis?
Pain, swelling, tenderness, and difficulty using the affected limb are the top symptoms of tendonitis. In some cases, you may experience symptoms that seem unrelated to the tendonitis because the weakened tendon can have a widespread impact.
Shoulder tendonitis, for example, may cause limited mobility in your wrist and hand.
How is Tendonitis Treated?
Tendonitis typically responds well to conservative care such as rest, immobilization, and gentle stretching. Anti-inflammatory medications, including steroid injections, can help relieve your pain.
After your inflammation goes down and your provider at Beaufort Orthopaedic Sports & Spine clears you to start rehabilitation, they create a program to strengthen the muscles and tendons and restore your range of motion.
When your tendonitis is associated with a specific sport, your provider may evaluate your technique and recommend training changes to balance your muscles and prevent recurrent tendonitis.
Retraining your muscles and learning proper form is also important for people who may strain the tendon during everyday activities such as lifting heavy objects.
If your pain and limited mobility continue even after giving conservative care enough time to work, your provider may recommend minimally invasive surgery. During surgery, they clean the injury by removing damaged tissues, and then they repair the tendon.
To prevent progressive inflammation that can lead to a tendon rupture, don’t wait to call Beaufort Orthopaedic Sports & Spine. Call or book an appointment online at the earliest signs of a tendon problem.
