What is Acute Tendinitis?

What is Chronic Tendinitis?

Treatment for Acute Tendinitis

Factors Affecting Severity

Treatment for Tendinitis

Symptomatic Relief

Prevention of Tendinitis

You now know that the cause of tendinitis is a joint misalignment placing excessive stress on the affected tendon. You also know that scar tissue that has formed to heal an injured muscle is what causes the muscle to shorten and pull the joint out of alignment. Knowing this you should now have an idea about how to prevent tendinitis. It is actually quite simple. Any time you have muscle damage from a trauma, if you treat the injured muscle correctly, very little, if any, scar tissue will form.

You must also learn how to do repetitive activities in such a way that you will not over-stress your muscles and gradually accumulate scar tissue over a long period of time. You should also learn how to avoid poor postural and body usage habits that can cause muscle damage to slowly accumulate. Learning something known as the Alexander technique (developed by F. M. Alexander) from a book or qualified teacher is one of the best ways to learn how to use your body without over-stressing your muscles. This is very important because many problems are created by the slow accumulation of muscle damage rather than from a trauma of some kind.

Another way to prevent muscle damage is to warm up properly before sports participation or other physical stress. Also, cycling your work, recreational activities or physical training allows your body time to properly heal any areas that have been stressed. For example, if you are training for baseball, don't run three or four days in a row and then throw three or four days in a row. Doing this could easily cause some muscle damage and scar tissue buildup. Instead, alternate running and throwing every other day. This way the muscles around your knees and shoulders will have time to recuperate properly after each training session.

Everyone will benefit from a regular strength-building exercise program for their entire body. This will make all of their muscles more resistant to muscle damage and help prevent not only tendinitis, but also arthritis, bursitis and neuritis. When done efficiently it only takes a few hours each week. If you are a weekend athlete it is especially important to do a regular exercise program during the week. This way you will be less likely to strain a muscle on the weekend while doing a sport you enjoy. Keeping in shape will also make you better at your activity or sport and provide many other health benefits.