What
is Acute Tendinitis?
What is
Chronic Tendinitis?
Treatment for Acute Tendinitis
Factors Affecting Severity
Treatment for Tendinitis
Symptomatic Relief
Prevention of Tendinitis
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What Is Acute Tendinitis?
When someone does a physical activity to excess they strain the muscle
that was overused. This can happen to a well-trained athlete who is striving to
excel or a retired person who overdoes it working in their garden. This
scenario is often seen in the "weekend warrior" athlete who sits at a desk all
week and then plays softball or tennis all day on the weekend. The resultant
muscle strain (mild tear) creates inflammation and pain. This strain usually
occurs near the end of the muscle where it attaches to a bone or blends into
its tendon. This creates a condition known as acute tendinitis. This condition
could also be created if the muscle is strained from trauma such as a fall.
The usual treatment
for acute tendinitis is to rest the area, apply ice periodically for the first
24 hours and then to use moist heat. Rest prevents further muscle injury, the
ice reduces the initial inflammation and swelling and the moist heat circulates
blood through the area to speed the healing process. Now, if you added gentle
massage and stretching to this treatment plan the muscle would probably heal
totally back to normal.
However, this is not
what the average person usually does. They may ice once or twice and rest a
bit, but most often just take an over-the-counter pain medication and continue
on with their normal activities. If the strain was minor, their body may be
able to heal the muscle fibers normally. Unfortunately, this is not the usual
result because the injured muscle is being used instead of rested. Because of
the stress on the muscle, their body heals the injured muscle fibers by binding
them together with fibrotic adhesions or scar tissue. This is done in an
attempt to prevent further damage to the injured area. It is a normal
protective response of their body.
This scar tissue
formation results in the injured muscle becoming shorter and tighter than
normal. The increased tension and stress on the muscle makes it more
susceptible to strain during future physical work, recreational activities or
even activities of daily living. If the muscle is over-stressed or reinjured
further, eventually enough scar tissue will form to cause a chronic tendinitis
or other more serious condition to develop.
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