People suffering from tendinitis deal with pain and swelling that makes even small tasks difficult to complete. The pain can take away the fun from your favorite hobby or reduce your work productivity.
Physical therapy through a broad range of exercises and techniques can help relieve pain and increase mobility on any part of the body affected by tendinitis. Read on to find out how physical therapy can help treat tendinitis.
What is Tendinitis?
Tendinitis is an inflammation or irritation of any tendon in the body. Tendons are the thick and strong tissues that connect your muscles to the bones. While the condition can affect any tendon in the body, the commonly affected tendons are located in the shoulder, hip, knee, heel, wrist, and below the elbow.
Some of the common examples of tendinitis include golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, swimmer’s shoulder, pitcher’s shoulder, and jumper’s knee.
Causes
Tendinitis is commonly attributed to frequent and repetitive motions. Over time, these frequent impacts cause tears in the tendons or overuse injury. That’s why different forms of the condition can be traced back to a sport, hobby (as shown above), or a job such as carpentry, painting, and driving that requires repetitive motions.
Other causes of tendinitis include:
- Sudden injury
- Aging — as the tendons lose elasticity
- Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes
Symptoms
Common tendinitis symptoms include:
- A dull ache around the affected area
- Swelling
- Tenderness
Injured tendons take longer to completely heal due to the area’s limited blood flow. Additionally, when the pain is gone, it’s possible to re-injure yourself because the tendons are near joints in frequent use. Therefore, the absence of pain does not mean that your tendons are properly healed or strong enough for your daily tasks.
Since it is difficult to know if the tendons are completely healed once the pain subsides, consulting a physical therapist can prevent the recurrence of tendinitis.
How Physical Therapy Can Help Heal Tendinitis
Physical therapy focuses on alleviating the pain and restoring mobility in the shortest time possible.
A qualified physical therapist will first identify the affected tendons and create a customized treatment program that will get them working normally and safely again.
Your therapist will start by recommending posture modifications you can adopt to decrease pressure and relieve pain in the area. Ice, heat, and manual therapy may be applied to loosen the joint, promote healing, and improve mobility.
Dry needling application on the original pain points in the muscles attached to the tendons will provide additional pain relief and promote faster healing.
Once your symptoms have significantly improved, your therapist will introduce a range of motion exercises and stretches to reduce stiffness, followed by strengthening exercises for the tendon and the surrounding muscles.
Finally, they will create a home exercise program that prevents re-injury and supports long-term fitness at your workplace or favorite sport.
Contact Custom Rehab PT for Effective Tendinitis Treatment
If you would like to learn more about how physical therapy services can help heal tendinitis, schedule your free consultation with our specialists at Custom Rehab PT today.