Tendinitis is a common cause of pain in patients we see at Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine. When you have tendinitis, you may often hurt you may often have a dull ache or sharp pain when you first start to move after sitting or sleeping. You will often feel less pain as you move.
Once you start moving more, the pain may increase again. It’s important to understand the type of tendinitis you have so you can create a plan to solve tendinitis.
Some common types of tendonitis and where they may hurt include:
- Achilles tendonitis – pain at the back of the ankle and heel
- Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) – pain on the outer part of the elbow
- Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis) – pain on the inner part of the elbow
- Rotator cuff tendonitis – pain in the shoulder that may radiate down the arm
- Patellar tendonitis (jumper’s knee) – pain below the kneecap
There are 3 keys to solving tendonitis:
- Relative rest from aggravating activities: Don’t completely avoid them but limit the pain intensity
- Strengthening exercises to increase muscle strength and tendon strength
- A physical therapist evaluation to identify any muscle imbalances or compensations that could cause the tendon to get overstressed and irritated.
If you have no other areas of weakness or compensation, solving tendonitis is pretty straight forward: strengthening exercises to increase the tendon strength.
Here are examples of exercises you can do for 2 different types of tendinitis.
Eccentric heel raises
Eccentric heel raises are great for treating Achilles tendinitis.
Hold onto a railing or wall to support your balance. Rise up onto your toes, lifting your heels as high as you can.
Hold this position for 1 second, then lift the unaffected foot off the ground without letting the other heel drop.
Slowly lower the affected heel down.
The lowering movement is the eccentric part of the exercise, so focus on lowering slowly and with control. a 3 second lowering phase is good.
Start with 3 sets of 10. There should be a 2/10 pain intensity with exercise. If not, you can increase the difficulty by holding a weight.
Try this every other day.
Wrist Extension
Wrist extension is a one of the key exercises to stop tennis elbow, also known as lateral epicndylitis.
Start with your wrist supported on a table and your elbow bent to about 90 degrees. Lower the weight controlled so it takes about 3 seconds. Be sure to lower it all the way down. Then raise it back up as high as you can again.
Start with 1 pound. If you can do 10 reps with no pain, add another pound. You want the weight you ultimately work at to cause a 2/10 pain level.
You want to do 3-4 sets of 10 at that weight. Do this exercise every other day.
Increase the weight as you get stronger or it stops hurting.
If you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, we can help you!
At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we’re experts at treating tendonitis and will develop a plan for you to solve tendinitis.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to request an appointment.
A member of our team will schedule you an appointment with one of our expert physical therapists.
What happens if you don’t have a plan to solve tendinitis?
- Your pain increases and you stop playing sports with your kids
- You get out of shape and are more likely to get other diseases and injuries
- You end up needing surgery and in more pain
But WITH a plan to solve tendinitis you can:
- Play basketball with your kids with confidence
- Lift and workout without pain
- Live the active life you want again!
The exercises above are a great way to get started. They don’t require a lot of time and are pretty easy to do correctly.
But if you want an expert to listen to your unique problems and guide you to success, a Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine physical therapist will create a plan specifically for you.
You’ll feel confident that you have the knowledge and ability to solve tendinitis and do all the things you want.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to schedule your appointment and start your path to healing.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
