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Solutions and Sports Massage Techniques for Achilles Tendonitis

September 23rd, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

For anyone who participates in sports that require a lot of running or jumping, or hikes vigorously uphill on a regular basis, the Achilles tendon can be particularly troublesome if it should become inflamed.

The Achilles tendon is a relatively inflexible attachment between the calf muscles of the lower leg and the calcaneous, or heel bone. This vulnerable, but important tendon works hardest when we push off at the start of a race, leap to slam-dunk a basketball or jump up to hit a high ball on a tennis court.

Too much strain on the Achilles tendon can result in painful inflammation. Recognized in the early stages, this condition, also known as Achilles tendonitis, can be effectively treated in a variety of ways. Left unattended, it can become chronic and debilitating.

How do you know if you have Achilles tendonitis? If the Achilles tendon becomes inflamed, you may notice a swelling and/or redness over the area. The tendon itself may be painful for a while after exercise. If it is not treated at this early stage, the condition could eventually affect your ability to run or even walk without pain. At this point it becomes much harder to resolve the problem. Severe cases may even require surgery. If you suspect that you have Achilles tendonitis, try applying cold therapy or ice to the area to reduce inflammation.

There are a couple of sports massage techniques that can also help. Applying transverse friction to the area can help reduce the pain and prevent adhesions. The strain-counterstrain technique on the lower leg has also proven helpful in strengthening weak muscles.

It can take a long time for Achilles tendonitis to heal, but diligence and patience is important in a successful recovery. Learn more
about the causes, symptoms and the treatment of Achilles tendonitis.

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This article was prepared for HomeStudyCredits.org. Visit us to learn more about massage therapy and massage therapy continuing education programs. Also, sign up for the Institute’s Massage Professionals Update, and get practice-building tips as well as learn new techniques.

How to Diagnose Tendonitis Around the Knee Joint

September 21st, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Tendonitis is best described as the inflammation, irritation and swelling of the tendons that connect muscles to bones and joints. The condition can affect any tendon and almost any joint in the human body. The most common areas that tendonitis occurs is in the knees, shoulders, ankles, wrists and elbows. In this article we’re going to focus on the three types of tendonitis that affect the knee joint.

Before we take a look at the different types of tendonitis that affect the knee we need to cover some basic knee anatomy. The knee is the connecting joint for three main muscle groups; the hamstrings, the quadriceps and the calf muscle. The hamstring muscles are located on the back of your thigh, the quadriceps muscle is located on the front of your thigh and the calf muscles are located at the back of your lower legs.

The knee joint also comprises of three main tendons. These are the hamstring, quadriceps and patellar (knee cap) tendon. These tendons are some of the largest and strongest in the human body. We will look more closely at these tendons later in the article. For now, all you need to know is that there are three different types of tendonitis associated with the knee, one for each tendon.

Let’s take a look at how each of these tendons fit into the knee joint and how to tell if that particular tendon has developed tendonitis.

Quadriceps Tendon

It’s very common for the quadriceps tendon to develop tendonitis, especially in professional athletes. The quadriceps tendon runs from the bottom of the quadriceps muscle down the front of the knee underneath the patellar (knee cap). If you have quadriceps tendonitis you will feel the pain directly above your knee cap. In some cases, the pain may extend up the front of the leg. The pain will feel worse when you sit down, or bring your foot up towards your buttocks. This is because the quadriceps tendon and muscle have to stretch. You may also find if you have quadriceps tendonitis that the area where your quadriceps meet your knee cap there might be some redness and swelling.

Hamstring Tendon

Hamstring tendonitis is often misdiagnosed as another form of knee injury. This is because the area that gets inflamed is often quite small (despite the large size of the hamstring tendon) and is close proximity to the back of the knee. The hamstring tendon connects to the knee outside of the back of your knee joint. If you have hamstring tendonitis you will feel the pain either in the tendon on the outside of the knee or on the back of the knee. If you feel the pain in the outside of the knee it’s obvious that the pain is coming from the hamstring tendon, but if it’s behind the knee it’s difficult to tell because the hamstring tendon goes deep into the knee. The pain will be at its worst when you try to straighten your leg out, where the tendon is forced to stretch. You will also feel increased pain when you try to twist your foot or point your toes at your knees. Often the entire back of the knee is swollen, but in its early stages hamstring tendonitis will only swell around the outer area of the hamstring tendon.

Patellar Tendon

The correct name for the knee cap is the patellar. Patellar tendonitis is one of the most common forms of tendonitis and the most common form around the knee joint. The patellar tendon starts behind the patellar and extends down to the tendons in the lower leg. So if you were to look at your knee from the front, the quadriceps tendon enters the knee at the top behind the knee cap and the patellar tendon extends from behind the knee cap down to the lower leg area. When you have patellar tendonitis you will feel the pain just below your knee cap or behind your knee cap. You will probably feel the pain whenever you move your knee, in any direction. Sometimes you may hear a popping or grinding sound as you move your knee around. This is because the area is inflamed and the tendon does not have enough room to move.

So, the important points to note from this article are that there is three types of tendonitis that can affect the knee; quadriceps tendonitis, hamstring tendonitis and patellar tendonitis. These are three separate tendons. If you need any more advice about how to treat tendonitis see the links below. Tendonitis can be treated without seeing a doctor, but first you must accurately diagnose which tendon is affected. The next article I will write will be about treating tendonitis symptoms.

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For information on all type of tendonitis visit the tendonitis information site, iTendonitis.com. For advice on treating knee tendonitis see the knee tendonitis section.

Treat Shoulder Tendonitis Before Its Too Late

September 21st, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Shoulder tendonitis is the inflammation of the tendons around the shoulder’s rotator cuff and upper bicep area. Shoulder tendonitis is usually developed by sports and activities that require you to lift your hands above your head repeatedly. Common activities that often lead to shoulder tendonitis are strength training (bodybuilding), some certain swimming strokes, racket sports like squash and tennis, cricket and any manual job that requires lifting of items over the shoulders.

The early symptoms of shoulder tendonitis include some light pain in the area where the upper bicep meets the shoulder and possibly some light swelling and tenderness. Usually the pain only occurs when the shoulder is under pressure. As the tendonitis develops the pain will occur at any time of the day or night, even when you are sleeping. The area where the pain occurs will get larger often encompassing the entire rotator cuff area and in some cases the upper bicep. Movement of the shoulder will be very restricted often painful.

So how do you know if you are developing shoulder tendonitis? As mentioned above, the first sign of tendonitis developing is the pain in the shoulder when it’s under pressure. If you feel a pain in your shoulder when you are lifting heavy weights and playing sport this is usually a sign that tendonitis is developing.

The first (and most obvious) step to take is stop doing whatever activity is causing the pain in your shoulder. We recommend that you stop this activity for at least one week. After that week, you should attempt lifting some very light weights to see if the pain is still occurring. If the pain does not occur, then it is likely that you simply strained your shoulder muscle or in more serious cases damaged the tendon temporarily. In this case you should ease back into the activity. If the pain does occur, it is likely that you have developed mild shoulder tendonitis.

Now that you have identified that you have tendonitis in your shoulder you must rest it once again. This time rest it for about three weeks. During this three week period you should not partake in any activity that may strain your shoulder. This includes light lifting and sports.

After that three weeks is up it is time to start to strengthen the shoulder to prevent the tendonitis. There are several light exercises that you can do strengthen your shoulder muscles and tendons. You should start with very light weights, 1kg should be about right for males and .5kg for females.

Start by holding the weight in your right hand with your palm facing your body. Keeping your arm straight raise the weight straight out in front of you until it is at shoulder height. Repeat this exercise for twenty repetitions. Repeat for your left hand. Now get the same weight and instead of moving it out to your front move it out to your side. Keep your arm straight and do this exercise for twenty repetitions. Repeat for your left arm.

If you feel any pain during these exercises it is time to go and see your doctor or physician. It is possible that your shoulder tendonitis may require further treatment. See links at the bottom of this page for details.

If these exercises do not bring back the pain in your shoulder you are on the road to recovery. You should do these exercises every day for one to two weeks. You may increase the weight slightly if the exercises are feeling too easy for you. But remember now to overdo it.

So in about four to five weeks you should be able to get back into the sport, exercise or activity that caused your shoulder pain. You should always ease back into exercise. Make sure you warm up and stretch your shoulder for about ten minutes before and after the activity.

Remember, shoulder tendonitis can be permanent, but it also can be treated relatively easily without medication. Many people get inpatient and do not give the shoulder sufficient rest time or recovery time before attempting a possibly straining activity. If you do not rest and strengthen your shoulder correctly there is a large possibility that shoulder tendonitis will develop again. If you shoulder pain does reoccur you should see professional advice from your doctor physician.

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For more information see our shoulder tendonitis information page. This page has all the information you need to know about tendonitis in the shoulder including treatment, symptoms and prevention. This page is part of the info57.com information portal.

Tendonitis Natural Treatments

September 20th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Tendonitis can be a very painful condition and often end in surgery, but not everyone wants to go down the surgical route so are there other cures you can investigate that may be less intrusive.

One course of action is to investigate the natural cures and therapies that are available first and leave surgery as the last resort.

It is no wonder when you are suffering from painful tendonitis you want to get treatment and fast, which is often recommended.

Natural treatments help to improve your condition as the ointments are made of purely natural ingredients, which are often praised for their healing power.

By giving your tissue the natural tendonitis treatment you will be giving them a chance to heal.

However during your tendonitis natural treatment phase you will need to slow down on the exercise part. It is not say that you will have to stop completely but you will need to give your body a chance to heal.

Even though natural remedies may be your preference in the long term sometimes it may help to also get an injection from your doctor which can help to alleviate your immediate pain, and give you natural remedy time to kick in.

Ways Nature Treats Tendonitis

September 18th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

The human body is made of natural organic matter and even with science coming up with many ways to improve our lifestyles it cannot remove the fact of what we are made of. It is obvious that for many, when they suffer the effects and pain of tendonitis they immediately try to get fatest form of treatment, and in most cases this is recommended.

You will however need and open mind if your goal is to find a natural tendonitis treatment since some of the methods would be considered as unconventional. The purpose of natural tendonitis treatment is to improve the condition through the use of ointments made from natural ingredients and compounds, which are normally used due to their healing properties.

It is critically important to have in mind that having tendonitis shouldn’t prevent you from doing your daily routines such as workouts. Having a tendonitis foot treatment will allow you to have a normal life provided this is done as soon as possible.

When you have tendonitis, one of the very first things you will need to take care of immediately is the pain that comes with the confition. The pains is really the issue that many really have a big problem with. Allowing your tissues to heal using a natural tendonitis treatment is an appropriate methods, however this will mean reduction in the amount of exercise you put in.

In many cases tendonitis and the damages done because of it can be reversed provided that you do not continue to aggravate the effected tendons by strenuously exercising to much. You should not try to push your body to its limit but instead reduce the amount of physical stress to a minimum level.

Would The Choice of Modern Medicine Be More Ideal Than a Natural Tendonitis Treatment?

In many instances, you may need a more powerful means to relieve the pain caused by tendonitis and sometimes even a natural tendonitis treatment is not enough. This could require you to go down to your doctor for a pain relieving injection. This should not worry you since each individual has a different pain tolerance level from each other, and as such a modern injection may really be needed as opposed to a natural tendonits treatment, which is perfectly normal.

Tendonitis In The Shoulder: Help for Shoulder Tendinitis

August 18th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

A common complaint among athletes is Tendonitis in the shoulder. The overuse of the joint is the main cause for tendonitis, this causes inflammation in the tendons. This happens in Athletes that over use their joints. Those people who are involved in the industry of heavy lifting will also suffer from tendonitis in their shoulders. How is this condition treated and what causes the condition? Can we find help for shoulder tendinitis?

Any type of inflammation in the shoulders is Tendonitis; this is especially relevant to tendons in the biceps and rotator cuff. This is caused by their overuse, also by those tendons being pinched by the bones and muscles that surround it. If an athlete moves his hand over his head frequently, they often develop tendonitis in their shoulder. This is caused in sports such as swimming, basketball, tennis, baseball also weight lifting leads to his condition.  These types of athletes are always looking for help for shoulder tendinitis.

The intensity of this condition in the shoulder differs from case to case. A few people will notice a slight discomfort due to the inflammation; this can be treated with gaps of rest from various activities that aggravate the condition. Some may have severe problems that require medical attention and even surgery. A severely inflamed rotator cuff can become very severe and limit the range of motion and will require immediate attention.

Symptoms of Tendonitis in the Shoulder

Tendonitis in the shoulder can exhibit some common problems. Those people who are familiar with the symptoms will seek medical help from a professional. Of course, as with most of the joint problems, there are no hard and fast indications that there are inflamed tendons in the shoulder, but those who feel these two symptoms will make note. The first indication is the inability to take the arm into that position that it used to once go in easily. The range of motion is limited by the inflammation. This is what makes people take notice of the problem. Pain and swelling is the second symptom that is particularly noticeable when it is in use.

Help for Shoulder Tendinitis

Ask your doctor for help for shoulder tendinitis if you suspect you are suffering from it. The most commonly prescribed form of treatment is resting your joint as much as you possibly can. However it’s not always practical to rest your shoulder constantly, but the activity or sport that aggravates the condition will have to be limited. The rest period is combined with anti inflammatory drugs that reduce swelling. Once the swelling is under control, you will require some physical therapy to strengthen the joints.

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