Understanding my Tendinopathy

What is tendinopathy?

Tendons connect muscles to the bones.

Tendons don’t contract or have good blood flow like muscles.

They act like elastic bands, storing and releasing energy helping us to jump, sprint and change directions faster.

If they don’t get used much, they lose their springy nature and can get inflamed easily with sudden increses in activity.

Commons sites for tendinopathies are:

  • achilles, either insertional on the bone, or mid portion a couple inches higher

  • patella tendon, aka Jumpers knee, painful on the bottom tip of the knee cap

  • lateral hip, aka Gluteal tendinopathy, often painful to lay down on affected side

  • proximal hamstring tendinopathy, at the top of the hamstring, often quite sore to sit on

  • tennis elbow and golfers elbow, the outer or inner portion of the elbow

  • distal biceps tendinopathy, front of the elbow, think middle age blokes lifting

  • rotator cuff tendinopathy, painful shoulder.

While there can be a great deal of variability, some things are more common for males or females at different life stages and sports or leisure activities.

What can we do about it?

Jenkins Physiotherapy uses hands on manual therapy, exercises, dry needling, advice and ongoing recommendations to help your body recover. We can also recommend the right supportive bracing when it’s needed.

We provide recommendations for management including offloading the affected area and managing exercise and recovery.

Once acute inflammation has settled, tendons respond well to progressive loading programs aimed at getting the load just right for each stage.

We want to find exercise that you can do that is just right for each step of your recovery journey and keep you going.

How can I get started?

Simply reach out to our friendly admin team, or go to our booking page and schedule an appointment at Jenkins Physiotherapy, Madeley in the Perth northern suburbs.

Remember your health fund card, or any referral documents from your GP or specialist to present to admin on arrival.

Wear something comfortable, so that we can assess the area that is of main concern.