“When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep. Stuck in reverse and the tears come streaming down your face.” This line from Coldplay’s Fix You does not only apply to matters of the heart; but could also describe the pain from tendon disorders. While we do hope to that lights can guide us home and ignite our bones; tendon disorders need special medical attention for it to be treated. Tendons are bands of tough tissues which connect our muscles and bones.
There are various believed causes of tendon disorders. Stress (from overuse or sudden use of the tendon), disease, injury, aging and use of fluoroquinolone anti-microbial drugs. In rare cases, tendonitis can be caused by an infection such as gonorrhea. These conditions can also be linked with the tendon’s lack of self-healing properties. Most health care professional use the terms “tendonitis” or “tendinitis” to refer to all tendon disorders.
Due to lack of research before, the conventional way to treat tendonitis was through ice, bed rest and anti-inflammatory medications. While these treatments might help, most cases of tendonitis are resistant to these kinds of treatments. After some time, symptoms would recur and even worsen. Rather than using treatment tendonitis as an inflammatory disease, tendon disorders are degenerative diseases. This means that tendons were worn out or broken down. Regeneration treatments are now available to effectively address tendon problems.
Examples of Tendonitis
- Tendonitis in the shoulders
Tendonitis in the shoulders is also called as rotator cuff tendonitis. In most cases, the supraspinatus tendon, which supports the upper arm is injured by overuse due to the line of occupation or sport that requires the arm to be elevated repeatedly. These high-risk individuals include swimmers, tennis players, baseball players and painters.
- Achilles tendonitis
This type of tendonitis affects the Achilles tendon. Achilles tendon is the large ropelike tendon attached to the heel bone at the back of the foot. Tendonitis in this area is also typically caused by overuse, especially in sports that require running or repeated jumping. This may also be related to ill-fitting footwear or faulty running. In unique cases, arthritis and gout can be the root cause of this type of tendonitis.
- Tendonitis in the wrist
Tendonitis in the wrist area usually arises in the form of De Quervain’s disease. De Quervain’s disease is characterized by painful inflammation of tendons in the thumb that extend to the wrist. Although De Quervain’s disease commonly occurs among people who repeatedly grasp with their thumb, a lot of pregnant women also gets this disease with no concrete reason why.
- Trigger finger
Another concrete example of tendon problems is trigger finger. Trigger finger is a condition when the fingers or thumb are locked when bent. This is typically caused by repeated movement of the finger or thumb affected. Some diseases such as arthritis and diabetes can also contribute to having trigger finger. Individuals with jobs which uses their finger a lot is also at risk in having trigger finger. Writers, musicians and farmers typically gets this. Early signs of trigger finger ate soreness and painful snapping when moving the finger. Surgery for trigger finger is effective and it’s rare for the problem to return in the treated finger. Although there may be stiffness after surgery, it can be solved after a hand therapy which a complementary treatment to the therapy.