What are Tendons?

Tendons are rope-like structures that allow a muscle to condense & attach to a bone making it possible for the muscle to attach in a much narrower area than actually needed.

Why are tendon attachments important?

Due to a narrower tendinous attachment, the muscle is able to generate a good amount of power to move a joint. Without tendons muscles will need more space making the joint movement inefficient & slow.

How does tendon injury/swelling occur?

There are multiple reasons for a tendon to injure or get inflamed (tendinitis). An acute rupture can occur due to injury like fall on the shoulder leading to rotator cuff injury, or sudden upward twisting of the ankle leading to a Tendo Achilles injury. While tendinitis can occur due to continuous friction of the tendon as they pass through tight spaces, some diseases like diabetes & gout are also responsible for tendinopathy. Recurrent tendinitis leads to the weakening of the tendon & eventual rupture even with low-intensity injury.

Which tendons are most commonly injured?

The rotator cuff tendons of the shoulder are the most commonly involved followed by the Patellar tendon at the knee & Achilles tendon at the heel.

How does tendon injury / tendinitis present?

Constant pain around the joint involved, especially on movement. Complete movement of the joint is restricted due to pain. There might be swelling around the joint & stiffness

If there is injury there will be sudden loss of function after the injury & pain with inability to movee the joint.

How is Tendinitis / Tendon rupture managed?

Tendinitis can be cured by treating the swelling followed by remedies to improve the space around the tendon via physiotherapy or  controlling diabetes / gout

Ruptures usually need surgical repair to regain function

Ignoring tendinitis can be dangerous as hey are a precursor for full blown tear which will lead to poor function & eventual surgery