Treatments for Tendonitis - Are You Wasting Your Time?
Treating tendonitis can be a very frustrating experience. In many cases, the standard, prescribed treatment of R.I.C.E – Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation just doesn’t work. It may provide some short-term relief, but it does nothing to address the underlying cause of your tendonitis. Believe me, doctors and physical therapists are also frustrated by their lack of real cures for tendonitis.
The biggest problem is that tendonitis is typically a repetitive stress injury caused by something that you need to do every day, i.e. your work, hobby, or regular exercise program. It is difficult for most people to stop working, or to work differently. And giving up our hobbies and exercise that make us happy is just as hard. But in addition to those reasons, there is another more critical cause of chronic tendonitis pain that is never addressed by the regular medical community. There are few resources for this knowledge of the underlying cause of chronic pain, but I’ll tell you about one later in this article.
Pain, including pain from tendonitis, is almost impossible to cure using standard methods and approaches. Pain cannot be cured by something outside of yourself because all pain originates inside of your body. Here is why R.I.C.E. will fail to heal and cure you just about every time:
Why R.I.C.E. won’t work:
Rest – the idea of rest is to give your tendon time to heal without applying the stress that aggravated it in the first place. Without proper diet and mindset, however, your tendon is unlikely to heal during a few weeks of rest. Tendons are not fed by a large blood supply and are therefore hard to heal. They require much more than just rest.
Ice – Although ice can help reduce inflammation, most tendonitis injuries do not have a lot of inflammation associated with them. Icing might reduce the pain temporarily, but it will do nothing to actually heal and cure your tendonitis.
Compression – the point of compression (wrapping) is pretty much useless to an injury like tendonitis which does not have a lot of inflammation. Compression is used in conjunction with icing to reduce inflammation. If you do not have a lot of inflammation (and this is especially true if your tendonitis has become chronic) then compression is really a waste of time. Supporting the injured area with a wrap may make it feel better temporarily, but as soon as you take that wrap off and start using it again, the pain will most likely return.
Elevation – again, the purpose of elevation is to reduce inflammation. No inflammation, no reason to elevate. It definitely won’t cure your problem.
Other Standard Tendonitis Treatments
Cortisone Injections: In some cases, doctors will recommend cortisone shots directly into the tendon. I would strongly advise you to research the possible long term side effects of cortisone injections before agreeing to them, especially for the Achilles tendon. Cortisone injections have caused the rupture of the Achilles tendon in many patients because it weakens the tendon over time. If cortisone weakens your Achilles tendon, I imagine that it is not a good idea in general to inject it into a tissue like a tendon. Do your research and ask very pointed questions of your doctor before allowing him/her to inject anything into your body.
Anti-inflammatory Medication: Tendonitis sometimes causes minor inflammation, but typically, after a few days there is no longer inflammation. Anti-inflammatory medication, whether over-the-counter or prescribed, has its own set of side effects and possible long term problems. It might help reduce the pain associated with tendonitis, but be sure to research the medication recommended for you, especially any side effects and negative drug interactions.
Surgery: Surgery of any sort has huge potential for side effects, the least of which is additional scar tissue, and the worst, death due to hospitalization, prescribed medication, or anesthesia. There are so many people running around right now with ‘failed’ surgeries…meaning their doctor recommended surgery for their problem and not only did it not help, but it made it worse. There are no guarantees with surgery, except that your doctor will get paid a lot of money…
The only thing that I know that has worked for me is to take matters into my own hands with the help of someone who has healed their tendonitis using some very unusual techniques. If you are interested in learning more, check out this information by Anne West, Ph.D.
