Let's start at the beginning…
What is a tendon?
A tendon is a cord of fibres that connect your muscles to your bones. It does not contract and relax like the muscle does. It's job is to transmit the force from the muscle to the bone to produce movement.
But recently research has found the tendon is much more than that - It works like a spring! Storing and releasing energy to make things like jumping and running more efficient. The main tendons that act like springs are your Achilles (in the back of your heel) and your Patella tendon (in the front of your knee).
What is tendinopathy?
A tendinopathy is when continued or repeated load is placed through a tendon. If the amount of load placed through the tendon is higher than what the tendon is used to, it won't be happy. It's like asking your body to run a marathon when it normally only runs to the mail box and back when it's raining. The tendon will not cope with the extra work and some areas of the tendon will not be able to heal fast enough to keep up.
Some things you may notice with a tendinopathy:
• The tendon will be thicker - This is an expansion of the healthy tendon to assist in recovery and is not a bad thing.
• The pain will be in a very specific location - right on the tendon!
• The injury will be worse with heavier loads - Running will be more painful than walking etc.
How do we treat tendon injuries?
Think of the tendon like a doughnut! The healthy tendon is the delicious doughnut on the outside, and the unhealthy tendon is the hole in the middle. Through a series of progressive exercises your physiotherapist will help you retrain the healthy tendon to cope with load better. Hence, the pain will reduce and function will improve.
Tendon issues have been a hot topic in physiotherapy and in the research over the past five to 10 years with more and more information coming out about the best way to manage this issue. As a part of the Back In Motion Health Group we have been lucky enough to attend multiple lectures and courses recently from those researchers to learn more.
If you think you may be suffering from a tendon issue, click here to book an assessment with one of our physiotherapists and we can work with you as a team to get you back to what you love doing!