84 Burnett St Bundaberg
Have you been diagnosed with tendonitis, or suspect your pain is caused by this condition? Tendonitis or tendinopathy can range from irritating through to unbearable. But you don’t need to just put up with your pain – there are steps you can take to alleviate your symptoms. Here's how to tackle your tendonitis pain.
Put simply, tendonitis is when a tendon in your body is inflamed. This can occur in any tendon throughout the body, but the most common locations are the shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees and heels.
The inflammation can cause swelling, pain and discomfort in the area, including the nearby joints. You may also notice:
In most cases, tendonitis will self-resolve within a few days. However, some people can experience pain for longer.
As with any acute injury, you also have a potential risk of developing chronic pain. Chronic tendonitis can develop if the tendon has deteriorated over time due to overuse or repetitive movements.
It’s important to address tendonitis when it first occurs, as if it’s left untreated, it could progress to a tendon rupture. This is a more serious injury that requires a much longer recovery period.
How is tendonitis diagnosed?
In most cases, your doctor will diagnose you based on your symptoms and an examination of the injured area. However, you may also need an MRI and/or ultrasound to rule out other causes of pain.
What causes tendonitis?
In most cases, the cause is some form of repetitive movement with the affected tendon. This may be at work, around the home or while playing sports. Your risk is higher if you are not doing the movement properly or have to lift objects above your head regularly.
You may also develop tendonitis due to:
Looking to relieve your tendon pain, whether it’s acute or chronic? Here are some simple tips to get you started.
Rest and elevate
This is a staple for almost any injury for a reason! Rest allows your body to focus on healing the injured area, and elevation can help to drain excess fluid in the area. These also help to relieve the pain as well.
You may also like to add compression – wrapping the area in a bandage to relieve swelling.
Add in anti-inflammatory foods
What you eat can actually help to alleviate inflammation! Reach for fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, green tea and herbs & spices such as ginger and turmeric.
Pineapple is another good one to reach for, as it contains bromelain – a compound that can help to heal damaged tendon tissue.
While you’re healing, it’s also best to avoid potentially inflammatory foods such as refined sugar and junk foods.
Give acupuncture a try
There are many manual therapies that can help to address tendinopathy. But we think acupuncture is a great place to start, as it has multiple potential mechanisms that could help to relieve symptoms.
Studies suggest that acupuncture may have anti-inflammatory properties, which could be particularly useful for inflammatory conditions such as tendonitis. It may also help to boost the blood flow to the tendon to support healing, as well as increasing the activity of the cells that heal connective tissue damage.
On top of these potential actions, acupuncture can be used to alleviate symptoms of pain. If you’re particularly worried about your injury, acupuncture is commonly used to relieve stress.
Are you looking for a way to relieve the pain of your tendon injury?
At Burnett House, our acupuncturist Jamie combines remedial massage, dry needling and acupuncture to relieve pain and stress naturally. He will assess potential underlying causes of your tendon pain and help tailor your management plan to tackle these factors directly.
To book an appointment with Jamie at our Bundaberg clinic, book an appointment online here or call us on (07) 41522372
