How to Treat Tendonitis

Muscles and tendons of our body play an extremely crucial role in helping us with the wide array of movements we do all through the day and probably all our life. Tendons at the joints are basically what are used to the most, even without we being conscious about them. We are so used to those body parts that we do not sometimes realize their significance. If we ignore them and do not take care of them, at some point, they are bound to give up. They are going to tell you on their own that they need rest! One such scenario is tendonitis.

It is a way for the tendons to tell us that they need a well deserved break. The healing process for tendonitis takes time, but it generally varies depending on the seriousness of the injury and the kind of treatment administered. But before we get into that, we need to see a bit about what is tendonitis.

Tendonitis, simply put, is the inflammation and irritation of the tendons, most often than not, around the joints. Achilles tendonitis and patellar tendonitis are the most common among the types of tendonitis. Burning sensation around the entire joint, pain, stiffness, and swelling, is what characterizes this condition.

Pain worsens during and post an activity, and can lead to further stiffness of the tendons and joints. It can be caused by aging, an injury, or repetitive stress on the joint, or even other conditions, like bursitis that may cause swelling of the tendons.

The first and foremost thing to be done in case of tendonitis is to give complete rest to that affected joint. Immobilizing it, and avoiding further joint pain, is the key. A splint or a brace may be helpful for that purpose. Straining and not resting the already damaged tendon could lead to a serious damage to the tendon.

Non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory medicines would be needed to reduce the pain and swelling. However, taking these medicines for a long time should be avoided, for they can have significant side effects. Another thing, which could be done is consulting your doctor about steroid injections. These injections can bring about faster relief as it can be injected straight away in the tendon sheath for accelerating the healing process and decreasing pain.

If you want to get rid of the pain naturally, the best bet is vitamins and herbs. Vitamin C, A, E, calcium, magnesium, bromelain, and essential fatty acids are useful in the treatment. Methyl Sulfonyl Methane (MSM) an organic type of sulfur found in the human body also has a relaxing effect on the joints.

MSM supplements are a good option for treating the pain caused to the tendons. Boswellia Serrata, a herb, which helps in countering the swelling, and encouraging healthier joints, and glucosamine, a natural supplement, which facilitated rebuilding of lost cartilage among others could be very effective in the recovery from tendonitis.

Strengthening the damaged or weakened tendons is necessary to bring them back to normalcy. Thus, engaging in light stretching and tendon strengthening exercises (after gauging the condition of the tendons), will provide further relief. Cold compression or ice pack would further bring the swelling down and soothe the frayed tendons.

In case, all these go in vain, and there is no improvement in the condition, it means that the matter has become serious and the only thing left to do is to undergo a surgery. After the doctor analyzes the tendon, he may prescribe (if required) shortening or elongation of the tendon through surgery.

These are the things involved in the healing process of tendonitis. Although not a very pleasant scenario to be in, one thing is sure - we take care of our most 'taken for granted' body parts due to such a scenario, which ironically are single-handedly responsible for our body movements.