By Rosallia Perry
After a nice brisk walk or a long days work, have you ever realized that your knees or hips have become inflamed? Even playing a round of tennis or a fun game of basketball, your elbows become inflamed? Well this is
the cause, tendinitis. I will give you a quick rundown of information in regards to tendinitis. This injury can be successfully treated with patience, diligence, and even massage.
Tendinitis is the inflammation (swelling) of a tendon. A tendon is a type of tissue that is connected to bone. The symptoms of tendinitis are: Heat and swelling, referred pain, burning and/or sharp pain.
Causes of tendinitis:
1. Repetitive motion or overuse,
2. Tendon/muscle weakness,
3. Poor posture or body mechanics
4. Sprain or Strains
Symptoms of Tendinitis:
1. Pain after activity
2. Painful at the beginning, goes away during, and then returns after activity
3. Painful that inhibits activity
4. Painful with all activity and is appears to be getting worse
Treatments:
1. Ice after activity
2. Rest and elevation of body part
3. Painless stretching
4. Strengthening exercises
5. Massage: Deep friction can help with tendinitis by stimulating collagen production in the damaged fibers. Massage helps to break up the scar tissue and is key to healing tendinitis. Massage is very beneficial. Compression, splinting, and elevation are the first lines of treatment.
Technique:
I have found one of the most beneficial treatment in massage for this is condition is Deep Transverse Friction Massage. Below you’ll see the steps taken from AlternativeMD.com
“The fingers use short, abrupt, sweeping back-and-forth motions to move the skin but not sliding over it. The goal of transverse massage is to move across a ligament or tendon to mobilize it as much as possible. Transverse massage, if performed before active exercise, can help reduce the pain associated with tendinitis and restore mobility. I hope this was helpful for you as it was for me. Maybe now, we can get back to the activities that bring us joy.”
Cautions and Considerations:
1. Massage should not be given during the acute stages of a tendinitis injury, which is usually the first 48 hours.
2. Massage is should not be performed when tissues are swollen, or visibly inflamed.
Challenge:
Try the treatment mentioned above in the technique section. Let us know what you think.
References:
“Can Massage Help Heal Tendinitis? | PJ Harris’ Massage Blog.” PJ Harris’ Massage Blog | Learn about Massage and Other Related Health Issues. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. http://pjharrislmp.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/can-massage-help-heal-tendonitis/
Online Article http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Massage-for-Tendinitis
Great job Rosalia! After being on the slopes all day I tried it on my brother and it really helped! Need to do it on myself just don’t have the energy yet.
I don’t think I have tendinitis, but that is a nice technique anyway.
i really liked the knee work, it felt really nice to put pressure around that area.
I suffer from knee pain and I do find that this technique is relieving. Thank you.
Rose that was great! Thank you for all the helpful information…Once again GREAT JOB ROSE!!
Although I do not have tendinitis or any type of knee problems, I still tried the 5 techniques on myself. They were very interesting and seem like they would be a great fix for tendinitis or any knee pains.
I tried the technique on myself, even though I don’t have tendinitis. I definitely felt the tendon on my elbow loosen up before I started running around and playing with my kids for the evening. I noticed that my joints did not get stiff like they do sometimes after a vigorous round of playtime. I think that it works.
I tried this on my boyfriend who suffers from tendinitis. He really enjoyed it because when he gets home from work his knees are really sore and they cause him a-lot of pain. I will continue to use this technique. Thanks!
I have had to do these treatments before but I never had incorpurated massage. I think its wonderful to massage the sore tendons. Its definitely helps you heal quicker.
I use to have this problem really bad in high school. I played basketball for 10 years and by my senior year, I was icing my knee after every game and most practices. I also kept it elevated while I was sitting around doing homework or watching T.V. I didn’t really do any stretching after it was hurting but I stretched before exercising. I tried this technique on my mom because she has a lot of inflammation and she loved it. She said at the end of the day she could already tell a big difference. Thanks!
Having played tennis and working out and experiencing this. Its a painful thing to experience. I tried this technique on myself and it was rather intense, but after i did it i had a sense of relief and release of pain. Glad to know a technique that will ease the pain.
I liked the technique. My knees sometimes give me issues so, I’ll definitely keep this in mind.
This would be a very good hand out to give to a client who plays sports or is active. My favorite technique is stretching before and after being active which helps prevents injuries and cramps. Deep transverse friction is also a very good idea to do for injuries.
The only time I have ever been bothered with tendonitis is when I played basketball. My knee would hurt and of course I would only ice it and stretch it some. I know that if I would have been able to add massage it would have made it so much better.
That is good to know. I will be trying it on my mom because she over uses her knees because she is a big woman and her knees have been giving her problems a lot lately.