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Identifying, Caring for And Healing Tendonitis Symptoms

The tissues which facilitate our movement are the tendons; these tough, fibrous tissues connect our muscles to our bones. Tendonitis is a condition in which these tissues are inflamed. The condition is known by a number of different names, depending largely on where the inflammation is. Inflammation in the knee or elbow may be known as jumper’s knee or tennis elbow, respectively.

Tendonitis symptoms generally occur as an overuse injury. When you repeat the same motion over and over again, you strain and eventually cause small tears in the tendon. This condition can be mild to quite severe depending on how long you have let it go. Many times, you can prevent severe injury and pain by using splints, wraps, ice and anti-inflammatory medications.

In order to prevent your tendonitis from leading to long term or even permanent damage, you will have to know tendonitis symptoms so you can begin getting treatment before more serious injury can occur. These are the most common signs of tendonitis:

Pain

* Swelling

Affected area can feel warm to the touch

* Restricted movement especially first thing in the morning or late in the evening

* Stiffness

A burning sensation after physical activity

Area may painful when touched

Preventing Tendonitis Symptoms

As with any other type of strain or injury the best thing, you can do reduce the risk or prevent the injury all together. This does not mean you will have to quit playing tennis, golf or any other sport, just take a few extra precautions.

Tendonitis sometimes results from exercising without properly warming up before and cooling down afterwards. You should warm up and cool down before and after a workout by stretching to keep your muscles and tendons flexible.

Tendonitis symptoms can also occur from the strain of daily activity. People who are overweight are particularly prone to tendonitis, since the heavier you are, the more weight your joints and tendons have to carry. You can help to prevent tendonitis from developing by losing any excess weight you may be carrying.

Improper form in any situation can lead to tendonitis symptoms. Whether you are on the tennis court or in front of your computer at work all day, it is important to position your body correctly during all kinds of work and play. For work situations, you can add ergonomic equipment such as specially designed keyboards and adjustable chairs to help you achieve the most natural placement of your hand, arms, and elbows and so on.

During exercise or while playing your favorite sport you should be aware of your body positioning as well. Over extending your joints is a perfect way to tear the tendons and cause yourself significant pain. If you are just starting out in a sport such as tennis or golf, try to get formal instruction about proper form to prevent tendonitis symptoms from occurring.

There are many methods for preventing and treating tendonitis. You can use rubs, wraps and ice packs to reduce the swelling and pain, but perhaps the best thing you can do is to rest the affected area so that it can heal. Anytime you feel pain, swelling or burning it is a good idea to stop whatever is causing the pain and seek medical attention.

Tom Nicholson has spent years helping sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. You can click here to find out more about having asore wrist.