Health & Fitness Blog

Tendon strain is very painful regardless of the way anyone describes the feeling. Tendon strain occurs when there is an injury that abnormally stretches the tendons inside the body. Tendons connect the bones to the muscles inside the body and they can become injured while playing sports or even twisting an ankle.

Tendon injury can occur at different degrees, the worst of all is the stretching of a tendon to the point of rupturing the tendon. Tendon injuries can occur by overuse, falling and playing rigorously.

Excessive force on any tendon whether found in the leg, foot, arm or wrist, for example will cause a tendon strain. Thus, if you can imagine a weightlifter that is not performing weight lifting properly, may suffer some form of tendon strain. Often, for example, a skier may fall in such a way as to tear the rotator cuff tendon in their shoulders. That is a common tendon strain.

The Achilles tendon just above the heel can be overstretched while twisting your foot. This particular tendon takes a great deal of strain, since it works to accelerate the body forward while walking or running. Even standing on tiptoes can cause the suffering of tendon strain, especially if this tendon is not kept moving in a proper manner before such an injury.

A tendon strain is treated in different manners depending on the amount of injury of course. If the tendon has snapped, immediate surgery is recommended, as the injury may be permanent, resulting in permanent disability if medical treatment in the form of surgery is not received.

Otherwise, a tendon strain will be treated by the application of R.I.C.E. This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. However, the amount of rest that is the correct amount has been debated recently. If there is too much rest, without any stretching of the tendon, there will be a foreshortening of the tendon, and this will cause further medical problems. Medical authorities now agree that there should be slow stretching done at least a few times a day to the injured tendon to prevent this likelihood from occurring.

With ice, care must be taken to not leave it on more than 20 minutes at a time, and the skin needs to be protected from direct contact with the ice. Icing prevents the swelling, though some will occur anyway if the injury was serious enough.

Limit the use of a compress and make sure that you do not make it too tight while using an ace bandage.

You can also limit swelling with the use of elevation. However, do not elevate the area higher than your heart in order to get the best benefits of elevation.

You also need to keep your range of motion after such an injury. You will need to exercise the area; however, you do need to be very careful while doing so. You may apply heat for no more than twenty minutes at a time after the swelling has gone completely down in the area. Strengthening exercises are vital after a complete recovery.

Tom Nicholson spends his time caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. You can follow this link to find out more regarding having asore wrist.