The sneaky injury - tendinopathies
Why do tendinopathies occur? Have you heard of the term too much too soon? This saying definitely applies here. A tendinopathy begins when the body is unable to keep up to the amount of load that is being applied to a tendon.
Most tendinopathies fall under the category of a tendinosis which is generally caused by repetative strain or overuse on the tendon. The other less common form of a tendinopathy is when there is inflammation involved and its called tendonitis. We are going to focus on tendinosis in this blog.
Tendinopathies generally occur in three distinct phases
Phase 1
The pain tends to only be there after exercise and will hang around for a little while, but then disapates and you forget about it.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? This is the best time to go and get it checked out. This is where modification to your exercise and a few simple tips and tricks can get you back on the right path. It means quicker outcomes and pretty much no time out of the type of exercise that your doing
Phase 2
The pain is their when you start exercising, it will go away when you warm up and during the exercise, but will then re-appear when you've stopped exercising.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Definitely consult with your physiotherapist. Althrough this phase doesn't generally mean you need to stop doing exercise, but you will definitely have to modify what your doing to take away the strain on the tendon.
Phase 3
The pain is there all the time, exercise makes it worse, but it never quite warms up. It generally aches even at rest and is very difficult to get relief from.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? If you haven't seent the theme already - you definitely need to do something about it. This is when people usually present to the clinic because it is now impacting their lives considerably. This is where there is generally a need for rest from exercise or sport and time to get into a number of different treatment options and rehab.
Tendinopathies tend to be an injury that people leave until the point that they can't exercise any more and this is probably one of the greatest issues for therapists. If it is caught quickly then it is easy to treat, if its left for a long period of time then it takes a lot longer to settle down and generally means time out of sport.
When you do finally get to the treatment phase of your tendinopathy the biggest things is to establish is why it has occured. Was it the too much too soon or is there a biomechanical or strength imbalance that has led to the tendon overload. When this has been established treatment progression is much easier and quicker.
If any of this sounds like you - putting off that little niggle until its really stopping you, its time to have it checked out!
Alissa Williams
Physiotherapist
Lissome Physiotherapy and Technique Studios
Bundall, Gold Coast
www.lissomephysio.com
