What exactly is a tendonitis injury?

In its most basic terms a tendonitis injury is where a tendon - usually at its insertion point - becomes inflamed. The suffix ‘itis’ in the term tendonitis simply means inflammation.

You will also see tendonitis being spelt tendinitis - this isn't a different term; simply a spelling variation.

There are many examples of tendonitis injuries, some common ones are:

• Patella tendonitis
• Achilles tendonitis
• Rotator cuff tendonitis
• Bicipital tendonitis
• Tennis elbow / golfer’s elbow (both types of tendonitis)

Tendonitis injuries generally come about through over-use or repeated overload of the tendon.

Symptoms include a gradual onset of pain, aching in the tissue and localised tenderness at the injury site. Occasionally there will be reddening of the tissue around the injury site. There may also be palpable nodules on the tendon.

One problem with tendonitis injuries is that they are often mis-diagnosed. Many of these injuries are NOT inflammatory based, in many cases the tissue has degenerated instead. If this is the case the injury is now called a tendinosis and will need to be treated in a different way. Imaging, such as an ultrasound scan, can confirm which type of process has occurred.

As a general rule longer term degenerative tendinosis occurs in the slightly older patient. Inflammatory based tendonitis will occur in the younger to middle aged patient, though there is no consensus on the exact incidence of these injuries.

To confuse matters even further the term tendinopathy can also be used. This describes the overall symptoms of the injury and is an umbrella term which describes both pathologies i.e. a tendonitis or a tendinosis.

As stated previously, treatment for these injuries will differ depending on the exact underlying issue. In both cases, however, there will need to be a period of rest - or relative rest - to allow the tissue to respond to treatment. Biomechanical / technique issues will have to be assessed as more often than not these are contributing heavily to the tendon problem.

These types of injuries can be complex and will require very specific treatment plans.

However the main thing to take away from this blog post is to not 'work through' a problem like this. You must take early rest from any activities that aggravate the problem and seek advice early. These injuries are MUCH easier to address in their early stages of development rather then when they have become chronic.

In summary:

Tendonitis = an inflammatory based issue.

Tendinosis = a degenerative process

Tendinopathy = a ‘catch all’ term that could be a tendonitis or a tendinosis.