What you need to know about tendinitis

Tendinitis is the inflammation of a tendon – which the Mayo Clinic describes as the thick, fibrous, cords that attach our muscles to the bone. This condition – which is most common in the shoulders, elbows, wrists, thumbs, knees and heels – causes pain and tenderness just around the joint.

While tendinitis is painful, it can often be healed with some good rest. But if you don’t let it rest, or get properly treated, it can lead to a severe condition that ruptures the tendon – which can require surgery to fix. For these reasons, it’s important to understand the signs and symptoms.

Tendinitis is often cause by repetitive movements with sometimes a very minor impact. Other times, tendinitis can occur from sudden, or serious injuries. Some of the most common ways people get tendinitis according to WebMD are:

– Gardening
– Raking
– Carpentry
– Cleaning the house
– Shoveling
– Painting
– Scrubbing
– Tennis
– GolfSkiing
– Throwing and pitching

It’s also important to note that how you sit or stand for long periods, or not stretching properly can also cause tendinitis. Some other risk factors include:

– Other conditions like: rheumatoid arthritis, gout, psoriatic arthritis,thyroid disorders, or unusual medication reactions.
– Abnormal, or badly placed joint
– Overusing a tendon in a way it is not used to

Because tendons hold the muscle and bone together, the symptoms and signs of tendinitis usually occur where the tendon attaches right to the bone and typically include:

– Dull, achy pain in limb or joint
– Tenderness
– Mild swelling

Many times, the Mayo Clinic says tendonitis can clear up when you give your body time to heal. But if you notice that your symptoms are continuing, and getting worse after a few days you should see your doctor.

Treatment

If your tendinitis doesn’t improve after about a week of rest, or the pain gets worse you should see your doctor. If your condition has worsened they may prescribe a corticosteroid injection for the swelling, physical therapy, and in the most severe cases surgery.

– Take it slow when trying out a new, or strenuous activity
– Always gradually build up how active you are, and don’t overdo it
– Try and do limited repetitions
– If you’re active, or doing repetitions and something hurts – stop