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Chronic Tendon Pain: Causes, Diagnosis, and Management
Chronic tendon pain is one of the most prevalent and uncomfortable conditions affecting your daily life. If you’re an athlete, especially, this long-term injury can hinder your performance and mobility for months or years. As you search for relief, it’s essential to understand the causes, diagnostic measures and treatment options to help you regain pain-free motion.
What Is Chronic Tendon Pain and Its Primary Causes?
Active individuals and athletes experience chronic tendon pain — a condition in which you have regular discomfort in the tendons for long durations — the most. Tendons comprise fibrous connective tissue that bonds muscles to bones. When overused and weakened, you might feel pain in your shoulders, legs, knees or Achilles heel.
The causes of chronic tendonitis — an inflammation of the tendons — mainly derive from injuries related to persistent movements and bodily stress. This could hinder blood supply to the area, resulting in scar tissue and accumulated calcium deposits. For example, running a marathon might hurt the Achilles tendon, while jumping in volleyball and basketball could lead to tendon issues in the knee. Even clicking a computer mouse at work could cause wrist tendonitis or trigger finger.
You might be at greater risk of developing tendon pain if you wear unsupportive shoes, smoke or are overweight. Likewise, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and certain autoimmune conditions could also make you more prone.
The Symptoms of Tendon Pain
Tendon pain symptoms vary from person to person. However, most people experience the following:
- Pain or tenderness near an affected tendon or joint
- Inflammation
- Stiffness
- Worsening pain with repeated activity
- Reduced range of motion
Symptoms of tendonitis and related conditions can worsen or improve over time, depending on the affected area, the reason for its onset and how much downtime you allow yourself to recover.
Diagnosing Tendon Pain Conditions
Doctors may take several approaches to diagnosing tendon pain conditions, some more invasive than others. However, pinpointing the impacted tendons and the severity and potential causes is vital in delivering proper care and treatment.
A health care provider may be able to identify tenderness by how connected muscles move against the tendon. The affected area will often be inflamed and possibly warm to the touch.
If testing is required, doctors might refer you for an X-ray, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although an MRI is costly and often a last resort, high-quality images are most effective in determining the extent of the injury, including possible tears.
Joint aspiration is a more invasive test to diagnose tendon-related problems, including gout or an infection. In this procedure, a physician inserts a needle into the joint to collect a small amount of fluid. They’ll inject a local anesthetic before collecting the sample and can also use a regional nerve blocker if you have extreme discomfort.
How to Manage Chronic Tendon Pain
Once you have a diagnosis, your health care provider can prescribe the proper treatment for tendon pain. Management of these conditions may include at-home care or other approaches in a medical setting.
Nonsurgical Treatments for Tendonitis
The best treatments for tendon pain don’t always have to be invasive. You can try several nonsurgical techniques to correct tendonitis and similar conditions.
Among the most effective treatments is rest. For the first 72 hours, you can use an ice pack for 10-15 minutes twice an hour, with time between each application. This will help reduce inflammation in the affected area. Likewise, over-the-counter pain medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen can take some of the edge off.
Tendon pain exercises can also provide relief, whether done alone or with a physical therapist. Gentle stretching at home can improve elasticity and flexibility, decreasing stiffness.
A weight or resistance band will also help you heal and regain tendon strength.
Just ensure whatever you use challenges you but doesn’t cause additional straining, especially with calf exercises and wrist curls. Depending on the severity of your chronic tendon pain, isometric exercises — contracting your muscles without joint movement — can also be highly impactful.
If your health care provider believes guided physical therapy is best, you might try various noninvasive treatments, such as ultrasound sound waves, manual therapies to decrease scar tissue and targeted activities to promote normal muscle functioning. Once you feel better, you can get back into your routine. However, take it easy as you pick up movement.
Other Chronic Tendon Pain Relief Therapies
Most people find chronic tendon pain relief from nonsurgical treatments. In fact, surgery is rare for tendon problems and is usually only done to remove inflamed tissue. Of course, if these noninvasive methods don’t produce the desired results, you can pursue these alternative therapies:
- Extracorporeal shock wave therapy: High-energy shock waves to repair tissues, decrease pain and stimulate healing in the tendons
- Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections: Concentrated blood platelets from the patient to repair and regenerate tissue
- Corticosteroid injections: Delivers anti-inflammatory medicine directly into the tendon for pain relief and reduced swelling
Many of these therapies are short-term solutions, with some having mixed results. For instance, studies suggest PRP injections may not have much effect on treating the Achilles tendon despite patients reporting substantial pain relief.
How to Prevent Chronic Tendon Pain in Athletes
Athletes are among the most impacted by chronic tendon pain. According to one study of 28,000 participants, patellar tendinopathy (PT) affected 18.3% of athletes — 11.2% were women and 17% were men. In this sample, 6.1%, 20.8% and 24.8% were soccer, basketball, and volleyball players, respectively.
Sport enthusiasts can prevent PT and similar tendon problems by taking the following measures:
- Stretch your limbs and do other warm up exercises before engaging in physical activity, training, and competitions.
- Gradually increase intensity and duration to allow your tendons to adjust to changes.
- Ensure you use proper techniques and make modifications as necessary to prevent tendon injuries.
- Vary your movements to avoid repetitious stress on your tendons, building muscle and flexibility.
- Give your body time to recuperate between training sessions.
- Increase your intake of protein, collagen, and essential vitamins and minerals to support healthy tendons.
Most importantly, listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right or you notice early signs of tendonitis, be proactive and seek treatment before the problem worsens.
Don’t Let Chronic Tendon Pain Control Your Life
When you’ve been experiencing tendon pain for some time, it might seem like recovery is impossible. However, there are numerous treatments you can try to ease your pain and heal your muscles and joints. Be patient and give yourself time to find relief.
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