2 Things To Do Straight Away When You Have An Injured Tendon

1. Stop stretching

• Injured tendons can be aggravated by compressive forces – i.e. compressing the tendon into bone
• Stretching an injured tendon (think stretching the calf complex with an Achilles tendon issue), compresses the Achilles tendon into the bony heel – which may lead to aggravation and maintenance of pain.

2. Be aware of body position

• Due to compressive forces leading to aggravation or maintenance of tendon injury, the way we hold our body or joints in our body will effect the tendon
• g. Tennis elbow – which is a tendon injury at the outside of the elbow joint, can be aggravated if we hold our elbow bent for long periods of time.
• This position compresses the tendon into the underlying bony joint
• Curling up in bed or placing our arm bent under pillows may make it harder to recover quickly.

Tendon injury (tendonopathy) can be long-lasting and frustrating. Applying these 2 principles may help in a quicker recovery.