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10 things not to do if you have lower limb tendon pain

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This video has been made with information provided by Professor Jill Cook (La Trobe University). It shows you the things not to do if you have lower limb tendon pain. Many thanks to Prof. Jill Cook and Dr. Christian Barton, for their content and their time.

These are 10 things you should NOT do when you have lower limb tendon pain:

1. Rest completely

Resting decreases the ability of the tendon to take load. You have to reduce loads to the level that the tendon can  tolerate and then slowly increase the tolerance of the tendon to load.

2. Have passive treatments

Treatments that do not address the need to increase the ability of the tendon to take load are not usually helpful in the  long term. Passive treatments alone,  like electrotherapy and ice, will only temporarily ameliorate pain, only for it to  return when the tendon is loaded.

3. Have injection therapies

Injections of substances into a tendon have not been shown to be effective in good clinical trials. Do not have an injection into a tendon unless the tendon has not responded to a good exercise based program.

4. Ignore your pain

Manage the load on your tendon, pain is a way of telling you that the load is too much. Reduce the aspects of training  that are overloading your tendon .

5. Stretch your tendon

Adding stretching to most tendons only serves to add compressive loads that we know are detrimental to the tendon.  Stretching while you are standing can be especially provocative to your tendon. If your musclesare tight use massage  to loosen them.

6. Massage your tendon

A tendon that is painful is one that is telling you that it is overloaded and irritated, therefore adding further insult by  massaging it can actually increase your pain.

7. Be worried about the images of your tendon

Pictures of your tendon with ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging can frighten you, and the words used by  doctors such as degeneration and tears can make you wonder if your tendon should be loaded. There is evidence that  the pathological tendon can tolerate loads, especially when you gradually increase the loads.

8. Be worried about rupture

Pain is protective of your tendon, it makes you unload it, in fact most people who rupture a tendon have never had pain before, despite the tendon having substantial pathology in it.

9. Take short cuts with rehabilitation

Taking short cuts with rehabilitation do not work, you need to take the time that the tendon needs to build its strength  and capacity. Things that are promised as cures often give short term improvement but the pain recurs when the loads are resumed on the tendon.

10. Not have an understanding of what loads are high for your tendon

The highest load on your tendon is when you use it like a spring, such as jumping, changing direction and sprinting.  Any loads that do not use these movements are low load for a tendon and will not place a high load on the tendon,  although they can certainly have a beneficial effect on the muscles.

Here is the original article.

You can also have a look at an infographic summarising this information here.

Foto del autor

Jorge Rodriguez

Physiotherapist, Member of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), MSc Health Care Technology (cum laude) at Tallinn University of Technology, Exercise Prescription Expert and Social Media Expert. Founder and editor at lafisioterapia.net. Passionate about dissemination in Physiotherapy and health promotion, with special interest in digital tools as a way to improve quality of life.