What is Tendonitis

There are four common forms of tendonitis that bring pain and discomfort. These common forms of tendonitis occur in the wrists, the kneecaps, the Achilles part of the foot and the rotator cuff in the shoulder. Each has a basic treatment that can be used to alleviate the pain and discomfort.

Personal trainers and Physios suggest the following for each condition:

The sheath that the tendon glides in becomes thicker, which painfully restricts the tendons sliding ability in the sheath; this causes wrist tendonitis. The soft tissue around the sheath can also become inflamed. The treatments that can help in the order they are usually used is immobilization, ice packs which cool the inflammation and cause increased blood flow, non cortisone anti-inflammatory medications and finally the injection of cortisone. Each will give temporary relief, and if they all fail to provide relief, the last treatment is surgery to give the tendon more room to move, but try everything else first.

Achilles tendonitis is caused by over use or age. The large tendon in the ankle is the cause of the pain. The first remedy is to ice the ankle and cut down on over use of the ankle.

Kneecaps and rotator cuffs are treated similarly except surgery is rare for the Achilles tendonitis. Rest and icing are the best relief measures to take. Leg braces can be used in some cases of kneecap tendonitis and are often very successful.