Foot Tendonitis - treat it right away
May 19th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
There are many different kinds of tendonitis, and while all of them are painful, foot tendonitis can be disabling.
You use your feet every single day, so you need to make sure that you take good care of them. If you are very active, or work on your feet, chances are that you may risk getting foot problems, such as foot tendonitis. The best way for you to ensure that you don’t get any serious problems as a result of this is to treat it right away. This is best done by consulting a licensed physician and taking his medical advice seriously.
Here is some background on foot tendonitis that may be worth knowing about:
Tendonitis - what it is
The fibrous tissue that connects the muscle to the bone is known as your tendon. This tissue is very strong and elastic, and helps to transmit force from the muscle to the bone during physical activity. Sometimes, however, too much force or strain on the tendon can cause inflammation, known as tendonitis. Factors that cause this include overworking your muscles that will eventually tire them out. Tendonitis can occur with rigorous activity, or even over time, as the tendons lose their elasticity.
Feet Tendonitis - what kinds?
Most of the time, any kind of tendonitis that involves foot tendonitis is usually Achilles Tendonitis. In this type of foot tendonitis, the tendon that attaches the muscles to the heel bone, which is known as the Achilles’ heel, is overstrained. This can cause burning and shooting pain to occur during movement. Most often, foot tendonitis, especially Achilles tendonitis occurs with long distance runners who use their heel in rolling motions when running or jogging.
Most of the time, runners, or other athletes who do not want to cease or slow down their exercise routine do not treat foot tendonitis. This is a problem, as untreated or diagnosed tendonitis can cause permanent damage to the foot. That is why it is important to treat your tendonitis with rest and applying ice packs to the foot while elevated. Avoid exercise during this time will also help to expedite the healing process.
When the tendonitis has cleared, it is important to slowly work your way back into exercise, making sure to keep hydrated and perform stretches before exercise to loosen up the tendon. Yoga exercises are excellent to strengthen your feet tendons, and stretch the muscles and nerve tunnels.
What will also help provide long-term prevention is using a heel cup or cushion in your running shoes, so extra support will be provided for your feet and will aid in decreasing the risk of getting tendonitis again.
[tags]tendonitis, foot tendonitis, inflammation, Achilles, stretch, exercises[/tags]
The Right Tendonitis Treatment for you
May 18th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
If you have tendonitis, you know that this injury can be disabling. However, it is treatable, and you can find the right treatment for you.
Like arthritis, tendonitis can cause joint swelling and inflammation in the affected area and can prevent the normal use of that part of the body, whether it is the wrist, knee or other area. Finding the right tendonitis treatment if of the utmost importance when learning to live with or overcome this chronic condition. There are many causes of tendonitis; overexertion, injury, sports-related condition or aging. Yet, there are successful treatments and therapies that can be employed with good results.
Tendonitis Treatments: Alternative Vs. Conventional
Often, when people begin to notice that their joints may be tender, red or swelling, they immediately call their doctors to schedule an appointment. Others put it off a bit longer, thinking that the condition will remedy itself with time. Still other people like to try alternative therapies and home remedies instead of making a trip to the doctor’s office. With every option, there are ways that help can be provided in tendonitis treatment. Doctors can often prescribe medications that will reduce the swelling and pain as well. Steroids are sometimes used in more severe cases, yet their long-term use in not generally recommended because of the nasty side effects of these drugs. Pain killers are prescribed for short-term use as well, depending on the severity of the pain. Yet, over a longer period, there use in mostly discouraged because of the risk of becoming dependent.
In the world of alternative therapy, homeopathic remedies are often employed for pain relief and overall healing of the tendonitis. Ginger root and cayenne can be made into a poultice to apply to the skin or into teas to help ease inflammatory conditions. Rubbing natural creams into the place of the tendonitis can be an effective tendonitis treatment as well. Getting to the root cause of the tendonitis is a bit harder, yet is crucial if one wants to overcome this debilitating condition. Often, one’s diet can be changed to include healthier choices and eliminating foods that are causing the inflammation within the body. This often works wonders in actually healing the tendonitis for good. Tendonitis treatments, no matter what route is chosen, are readily available and provide a hopeful outcome for this painful condition.
[tags]tendonitis, treatment, red, swelling, inflammation, alternative, homeopathic[/tags]
Elbow tendonitis - common with computer users
May 17th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Do you pay attention to ergonomics as you use your computer? If you don’t you may experience pain in your arms from elbow tendonitis.
Elbow tendonitis usually results from overuse of the muscles and tendons of the forearm which causes inflammation as well as pain around the elbow joint.
The mechanism that causes this condition to occur can differ from case to case and may be due to a single and violent action or because of repetitive stress injury (RSI) that is very common, and occurs because of an action being performed repeatedly, thus causing pain to develop gradually.
It can occur in everyone, especially computer users, golfers and tennis players, and is most pronounced when the offending action increases in intensity or duration. Elbow tendonitis is very common to athletes, but is also known to occur when weekend carpenters use hand tools occasionally.
The condition is generally self-limited and will not result in any long-term disability, and very rarely requires surgery for treatment, as it can be managed with proper rest as well as rehabilitation. You can take anti-inflammatory medications that can be used orally, which is simple to take and will help to control the inflammation as well as manage the pain. In case normal anti-inflammatory medications fail, then cortisone injections may be taken.
Tendons that attach the bones at the elbow can often become inflamed and these tendons arise from the movement of muscles that move the wrist, and because the wrist is used for many functions, it is not surprising that elbow tendonitis occurs a lot in these tendons. Also, many tennis players are affected that use a lot of forceful wrist movements, and such a condition is commonly referred to as a “tennis elbow”. In spite of tennis players being most often struck, elbow tendonitis can occur in any person that uses their wrists and hands routinely, and even office workers that spend a lot of time using the phone, fax or computer and filing and other repetitive activities are just as liable to be struck with this condition.
Elbow tendonitis is treatable
The good news is that elbow tendonitis is almost always treatable and curable as well. The best treatment for elbow tendonitis is of course taking a lot of rest from activities that cause the symptoms to appear. One may also use ice on the inflamed tendons of the elbow for about twenty minutes, twice or three times daily. Elbow tendonitis can affect the patient’s ability to perform normal routine activities and will thus require rehabilitation which should aim to reduce pain, increase flexibility as well as strengthen as well as restore function.
This may require getting an evaluation of the patient’s strength, posture as well as flexibility and also the need to determine which activities are causing the condition to arise. To get back to shape once again, the patient should get expert advice and tips that will require their following certain routines as well as make simple adjustments so that there is no further aggravation of the condition.
[tags]elbow tendonitis, tendonitis, forearm, muscles[/tags]
Patellar Tendonitis: “Jumpers Knee”
May 16th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Sore knees? You may be suffering from patellar tendonitis. When a person overuses the knee it can result in patellar tendonitis or “jumper’s knee”.
The patellar tendon is a structure attaching the quadriceps group of muscles to the tibia or shin bone and is also referred to as patellar ligament, and some anatomists believe it should be referred to as a ligament, which is what connects bone to bone as opposed to tendons that connect muscles to bone. Patellar tendonitis can be a result of a rapid increase in the frequency of training, suddenly increasing training intensity, transitioning from one training method to another, repeatedly training on a rigid surface, mechanics during training were improper, knee joint abnormalities or even a poor base strength of the quadriceps muscles.
Patellar tendonitis is most often observed in basketball players. In addition, during school years, many kids make a transition from football to basketball and the two disciplines places completely different stresses on the knee joints, which can cause the onset of patellar tendonitis. There are other contributing factors as well, such as changes in training surfaces, increasing the amount of running or jumping or both as well as the pounding that is normally associated with football.
When athletes suffer from patellar tendonitis the signs as well as symptoms are easy to detect and include pain in the tendon area, knee feeling “tight”, pain being felt early in a workout as well as on completion of the workout, subtle swelling of the tendon as well as a certain “squeaking” of the tendon felt by athletes. One may treat this condition with a general fitness as well as flexibility program, though prevention is certainly better than cure.
Multi-sport athletes that make the transition from one sport to another should take care to utilize proper conditioning techniques so that the transition is trouble free and it may call for their performing aerobic fitness training, lower body strength training as well as training for lower body flexibility. Patients of patellar tendonitis are strongly encouraged to keep them active while practicing as well as when undergoing rehabilitation in order to prevent them from detraining, failing to keep up on defensive as well as offensive aspects of the game and most important of all, to keep the mental drive strong.
When patellar tendonitis occurs, it becomes necessary to first recognize the predisposing factors, because in case the condition goes unchecked, the tendon may form scar tissue that may result in the athlete spending the rest of his or her career in fighting off the condition, especially when he or she increases the volume or intensity of his or her training sessions.
[tags]tendonitis, patellar tendonitis, pain, tendon, training, [/tags]
Tendonitis: The Inflammation of Your Tendons
May 15th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Anyone can get tendonitis, which is the inflammation of a tendon anywhere on our body.
When tendons are chronically overused, it may lead to microscopic tears in the collagen matrix and this causes a gradual weakening of the tissues. It is also associated with rheumatoid arthritis. There is generally a swelling in a region of micro damage or a partial tear is seen or it can even be felt by the doctor who will diagnose it by such means. The tendon is a tough and flexible bond of fibrous tissue and is the structure in the body that connects bone to muscle and it help in walking, jumping, lifting as well as moving in many different ways.
Different causes of tendonitis
One does not want any harm to come to the tendons which come in many shapes as well as sizes - with some being very small like those which move the fingers and there are other larger ones that help people to walk. The inflammation to the tendons can be caused by a number of different reasons which results in the action of pulling the muscle becoming quite irritating. Any impairment of the smooth gliding motion of the tendons will result in pain while moving and is called tendonitis.
Overuse can be the most common cause of tendonitis and may often occur when individuals begin to exercise or increase the level of their exercises, and it will result in symptoms of tendonitis. It may also be caused by the age-related factor, because with advancing years, the tendons tend to lose their elasticity as well as ability to glide as smoothly as they are accustomed to doing. Elderly people will thus be more at risk of developing tendonitis, and the cause of such a condition does require more study and research in order to completely comprehend the true causes.
There may even be anatomical reasons for getting tendonitis which can occur when the tendons are unable to get a smooth path to glide along and will thus become irritated as well as inflamed.
The best treatment or remedy for such an instance of tendonitis would be to go in for surgery which will help to realign the tendons once again. Tendonitis can be felt in the wrists, Achilles, kneecaps, as well as rotator cuff. When a person suffers from tendonitis, it is advisable to get plenty of rest as well as protect the affected area, and one may also need to apply an ice pack. In addition, anti-inflammatory medicines, and cortisone injections are effective means of treating tendonitis.
[tags]tendonitis, tendons, muscles, inflammation, rest[/tags]
Chronic tendonitis
May 14th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Chronic tendonitis is not only painful, it can be disabling as well: millions suffer from it.
Chronic tendonitis which is a condition that affects the tendons in various parts of the body. The word “chronic” means recurring and tendons are the elastic-like tissue which connects the muscles to the bones.
These tendons tend to lose their elasticity with the aging process due to normal wear and tear. Often the tendon will break or tear and scar tissue will form. Since scar tissue is not as flexible as the tendon it can cause inflammation and pain with continued use to the area. The areas most affected are the elbow, shoulder, knees, ankles, and feet. During the course of the day these areas will usually get a lot of use and the area does not have time to heal before the need arises to use it again.
Age is not the only cause of chronic tendonitis. Athletes often suffer from this condition because of the repetitive motion required during athletic activity. For instance golfers constantly swing a golf club or ball players will constantly swing a bat or throw a ball. Over the course of time this causes the tendons to weaken and inflammation occurs. Many people suffer from chronic tendonitis because they fail to do the proper stretches or warm-up before exercising. This puts added strain on tendons, often leading to tearing or rupture. When it does, the treatment options are greatly diminished.
Dealing With the Pain of Chronic Tendonitis
The pain that is associated with tendonitis can range from very mild to extremely severe. The treatment can be as simple as ibuprofen and rest or your doctor may want you to begin an anti-inflammatory medication to relieve the swelling in the affected area. Often doctors will recommend mild stretching exercises in order to keep the joints flexible. Corticosteroids can be injected but they do not come without risks. They are known to weaken the immune system or infection can occur at the injection site. It is very important that the tendon be given time to heal or severe tendon injury can occur. Surgery may be needed in severe cases in order to relieve the pain.
The best way to prevent chronic tendonitis is to take steps to avoid activity which can cause the condition. Before exercising always make sure to do warm-up stretching. Consider changing your exercise routine to low impact, apply ice to any area that is inflamed, and stop the activity that requires further use of the affected tendon. This may mean some activity modification but in the long run it can help you avoid severe tendon damage and pain. Yoga stretches have also proved effective in some cases of chronic tendonitis.
[tags]tendonitis, chronic tendonitis, inflammation, medication, activity, stretching[/tags]
