The Biggest Consideration When It Comes to Tendinitis
As performance physical therapists we hear this all the time. “My doctor told me I have something called tendonitis.” Well what the heck is it and what's our biggest consideration when it comes to treating it.
Tendinitis occurs when tendons become inflamed or irritated due to overuse or excessive strain. What I like to tell patients, it normally boils down to TOO MUCH, TOO FAST, and in some cases TOO LITTLE.
Someone who wanted to train for a marathon this upcoming Summer and in preparation threw down some crazy miles too quickly in the early stages. As a result, their achilles tendon starts to freak out.
Could be a lifter, who formerly competed, and signed up for an event in the next few months and their shoulder wasn’t used to the volume of training like they used to and now their bench press sets it off every training session.
Or finally could be someone who never really strength trained but still was out playing tennis multiple times per week and eventually due to repetitive use, things started to fall apart.
So what's our biggest consideration when it comes to Tendinitis?
IRRITABILITY
Irritability is EVERYTHING. Irritability describes how easily annoyed or pissed off a tendon can get with angering tasks or activities. If you solve the irritability problem, you will know how much you need to pull back. You will know how hard you can push. You will know what tissues you need to work. If you solve the irritability problem, you solve your tendinitis.
Lets take our runner example. Someone who signed up for a marathon, put down too many early miles, and now has an angry achilles and subsequent tendinitis. They may actually be able to walk and run, but at the 3 mile mark, things start to fall apart. Their calf may not actually be weak. It most likely is just pissed off at this point. This doesn’t mean we don’t work their calf and just focus on running, we do both!
First we start the reloading process and figure out how hard we can strengthen the calf without making the tendon too angry. Second, we want to regain tolerance to landing and propulsion to carry over to their running. Finally, we dial in their running programming and see what may need to be tweaked without sacrificing actual running.
Irritability is the driver in all of this.
By taking into account how annoyed the tendon is will dictate each and every choice. As irritability starts to lessen, we push harder. Start snowballing these decisions and at the end of the day, you’re back doing what you love.
If you’ve been dealing with a nagging injury and tendinitis and looking for guidance on how to best manage it, please reach out to consult with us at Tundra Performance and Physical Therapy where we are experienced at creating customized and individualized rehabilitation programs fit to you and your goals.
Helping athletes RESOLVE THEIR PAIN by CLEARLY DEFINING THE PROBLEM and IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS to get them back doing the activities they love!
If you are currently struggling with an injury or unable to perform in the activities you enjoy. Please follow the link to schedule a consultation call to discuss how we can help you.
