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Muscle Tendon Injuries

Muscle tendon injury is damage to the fibers that attach muscle to bone. These tendons are usually damaged near the joints during physical exertion and can be painful and disabling to the injured person. Once the injury has occurred, the sufferer can only rely on his body to heal itself, though their are ways that the pain caused by muscle tendon injuries can be alleviated.

  1. Types

    • The two types of tendon injuries are tendinitis and tendinosis. Tendinitis involves inflammation caused by a direct tear in the tendon, which causes pain when the tendon is used. Tendinosis is caused by small tears on the body that result from overusing the muscle. Another word for tendon muscle injury is tendinopathy.

    Symptoms

    • Tendon injuries sometimes occur out of nowhere, while other times they gradually build, causing progressively greater pain. In the area where the tendon injury occurs, there should be stiffness, pain and weakness. Any attempt to move the joint will cause an increase in pain, as the body tells the individual to allow the tendon to heal. Pain and stiffness is significantly bad in the morning when the individual gets up. There might even be swelling, redness or a crunchy sound when the muscle is moved.

    Rest

    • Mostly, a tendon needs time to heal. Any amount of movement can lead to more strain on the tendon, which will not only cause more pain but also rip open the healed parts. Usually, the muscle can be held in whatever position leads to the least pain, though a splint might be needed if the tendon injury is in the elbow. If the pain is not too great, though, sufferers are recommended to gently stretch and move the tendon in order to relieve stiffness. As the pain is relieved, the sufferer can gradually return to normal activities. However, any activity should be ceased as soon as pain returns. Athletes should alternate exercises every day until all stiffness and pain goes away. If you received your injury at work, ask your boss if you can do your job a different way.

    Pain Relief

    • Cold helps relieves tendon injuries. Cold rags, rags wrapped in ice or ice packs applied to the injured region periodically can help ease the pain and speed healing. Ibuprofen is a great reliever for this type of pain.

    Prevention

    • Muscle tendon injuries can be prevented by stretching thoroughly before exercising. Also, the cholesterol-lowering drug class of statins might cause tendon injury. A study published in "Arthritis and Rheumatism" suggests that statins increase tendon injuries. Prevention is preferable to treatment, since tendon injuries take time away from the fitness program and scar tissue left from the torn tendon progressively reduce the range of motion.

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