Healthy Life
Ten things to know about tendinopathies
by Uperform
Shoulder pain after a holiday spent in the sun passing the ball on a tennis court? Morning stiffness in the Achilles tendon after wanting to accompany friends on their half-marathon in the absence of adequate preparation?
You probably suffer from tendinopathy, more commonly known as tendinitis. On the vouchers –
or not – advice from your friends or google, you are about to take care of these pains yourself. Unfortunately the results are not forthcoming and the situation is dragging on improve. Here is for you the list of the 10 things not to do when you have tendinopathy:
1. COMPLETE REST
If you injured yourself, it is because you applied an activity load to your tendon that
exceeds its capacities of tolerance. In other words, your tendon was too weak for support the amount of effort required. Prolonged rest will not resolve this situation. It is even possible that by avoiding any movement, your tendon and the muscle to which it is attached lose capacity. You find yourself functionally diminished. This is what happens during an immobilization in plaster, for example.
This point is valid for most musculoskeletal injuries. The recommendations of good behavior now insist on early movement to ensure the best possible recovery. It is important to stimulate the affected part of the body with an appropriate amount of movement.
2. PASSIVE TREATMENTS
Beyond their beneficial effects on short-term pain, passive treatments have not long-term effect. It is necessary to follow in parallel a program based on exercises adapted to strengthen the tendon.
3. INJECTIONS
No high-quality studies have yet demonstrated conclusive results regarding the use
injections to improve tendinopathies. They also have side effects. more or less important depending on the product injected. They may, however, constitute a second therapeutic option if the adapted strengthening exercise program has not given of result.
4. IGNORE YOUR PAIN
Did you understand that prolonged rest will not be useful to you? Very well ! You learned that do you have to let loose on strengthening exercises like never before? Not really well… Dosage is of crucial importance in strengthening exercises. We often talk of graduated exposure. The exercises offered will increase in intensity/difficulty over time. the tendon strengthens. It is deleterious to start directly with too many exercises intense. Morning pain and stiffness will be good indicators in order to choose the best level of exercises to include in your rehabilitation.
5. STRETCH YOUR TENDON
In addition to the tensile loads that are applied during physical exertion, the tendons are also exposed to compressive loads when stretched. Stretching can sometimes be more harmful than anything else.
6. MASSAGE YOUR TENDON
If your tendon is tender, it is because it is irritated. Massaging it only adds discomfort and irritation on the board. However, it may be interesting to massage the muscle to which the tendon is attached in order to reduce the tensions transmitted to it.
7. BE WORRIED ABOUT THE IMAGING OF YOUR TENDON
As explained in our article “Medical imaging: friend or foe of healthcare”, there is not always a relationship between the appearance of your tendon on the imaging and its real capacities. Tendons, even damaged or cracked, can very well be strengthened and improved with support based on appropriate exercises.
8. THINK OF A TENDON RUPTURE
Pain plays a protective role. It prevents you from hurting yourself and encourages you to protect yourself. Tendon ruptures are sudden events, which are not preceded by pain. The natural course of tendinopathy is not rupture. The tendon tends to resume normal functioning with an adapted exercise program.
9. TAKE SHORTCUTS IN YOUR REHABILITATION
Building a strong and resilient tendon takes time. Only after a program of reinforcement carried out over several weeks (sometimes several months) that the results will really take hold in the long term and help to avoid recurrences. The “magical” solutions mentioned in the first points can sometimes offer short-term relief but will not help you regain your tendon’s full capacity in the long term.
10. NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT A HIGH TENDON LOAD REPRESENTS
Jumping, changing direction, sprinting: all activities where your tendon is used as a elastic are considered intense efforts (High Load Exercise). This type of effort is avoid in the phases when the tendon is most sensitive. It is recommended to first undertake slow-speed strengthening exercises. You will no doubt have understood that the best way to treat tendinopathy is via a program based on strengthening exercises followed by plyometric exercises where the capacities tendon elastics are fully worked. Your physiotherapist will help you establish or best this program according to your abilities and goals.
We care, you perform.
Bibliographie :
Cet article est basé sur les recherches et le blog de l’équipe du Professeur Jill Cook, La Trobe SEMRC traduite en français par Physio Sport et Performance. Retrouvez l’article originel ici :
