Tendinitis

Tendinitis

Tendinitis

Inflammation of the tendon is called tendinitis.

What are tendons?

Tendons are flexible bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones. They help your muscles move your bones. Tendinitis is the severe swelling of a tendon.

What causes tendinitis?

Tendinitis usually happens after repeated injury to an area such as the wrist or ankle.

Overview of Tendinitis

Tendinitis is the swelling of a tendon, a flexible band of fibrous tissue that connects muscles to bones. It is a common condition that most often affects the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle.

Who Gets Tendinitis?

People such as carpenters, gardeners, musicians, and athletes who perform activities that require repetitive motions or place stress on joints are at higher risk for tendinitis. Since tendons become less flexible as you age, you are more likely to get tendinitis as you get older.

Achelles tendinitis

Types of Tendinitis

Some types of tendinitis are named after the activities that often cause them. Here are some common examples:

• Tennis elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, which is an injury to the outer elbow tendon, often caused by repetitive wrist turning or hand gripping.
• Golfer’s elbow, or medial epicondylitis, which is an injury to the inner elbow tendon, often caused by repetitive wrist turning or hand gripping.
• Biceps tendinitis, which causes pain in the front or side of the shoulder that may travel down the arm, and sometimes pain when the arm is raised overhead.
• Rotator cuff tendinitis, which causes pain at the tip of the shoulder and the upper, outer arm; pain may become worse when reaching, pushing, pulling, lifting, raising the arm, or lying on the shoulder.
• Jumper's knee, more common among people who play sports that require jumping, such as basketball, which causes the knee tendon to become inflamed or tear from overuse.
• Achilles tendinitis, which is tendinitis in the tendon on the back of the heel.

ymptoms of Tendinitis

Tendinitis typically causes pain just outside your joint, especially when you move it, and swelling.

Causes of Tendinitis

Tendinitis is usually caused by repetitive motions or injuries. An infection, arthritis, gout, thyroid disease, or diabetes can also cause tendinitis.

Diagnosis of Tendinitis

To diagnose tendinitis, your doctor will probably ask questions about your medical history and examine you. You will probably be asked to describe your joint pain and the circumstances in which it occurs. The location and onset of pain, whether your pain varies in severity throughout the day, and factors that relieve or aggravate your pain may all help your doctor determine whether tendinitis is causing your pain.

Your doctor may also do manual examinations of the joint to see which tendon is inflamed. They may also recommend x-rays, which do not show the tendons, but which may help rule out other problems. A magnetic resonance imaging test (MRI) can show whether the tendons are inflamed. Your doctor may also remove and test fluid from the inflamed area to rule out infection.

Treatment of Tendinitis

Treating tendinitis can reduce pain and swelling. Some common treatments include:

• Resting and elevating the injured area.
• Limiting your activity, in order to reduce further injury.
• Taking medicines that will reduce swelling, such as aspirin, naproxen, or ibuprofen.
• Gentle stretching and strengthening exercises.
• Applying compression to the injured area.
• Soft tissue massage.
• Putting a brace, splint, or band on the injured joint.
• Your doctor may also recommend ice for sudden, severe injuries, but most cases of tendinitis are long term, and ice does not help.

If your tendinitis does not improve, your doctor may inject a corticosteroid medicine into the area surrounding the inflamed tendon. Although these injections are common, they must be used with caution because they can lead to weakening or rupture of tendons, especially weight-bearing tendons in your ankles, feet, and knees.

If your tendon is completely torn, you may need surgery. If your tendon is partially or completely torn, you may also need several months of rehabilitation and exercises to restore your strength and prevent further injury.

Tendinitis Resources
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Classification	ICD-10: M77.9 MeSH: D052256 DiseasesDB: 31624
External resources	MedlinePlus: 001229 eMedicine: emerg/570

Rheumatologic diseases

Arthritis is often used to refer to any disorder that affects the joints. Rheumatic diseases usually affect joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. Rheumatologic diseases usually affect joints, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles.

Connective Tissue Diseases

Rheumatology and	Connective Tissue Diseases
Ankylosing spondylitis	Arthritis
Arthritis and Rheumatic diseases	Autoimmune diseases
Autoinflammatory diseases	Behçet’s disease
Bursitis	Giant cell arteritis
Gout	Juvenile arthritis
Knee problems	Lupus
Osteoarthritis	Polymyalgia rheumatica
Psoriatic arthritis	Reactive arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis	Scleroderma
Sjögren’s syndrome	Systemic lupus erythematosus (Lupus)
Tendinitis	Rheumatologic diseases