UA Tendon clinic

Does your tendon problem make our frequent flyer list?

The most common tendon injuries we treat are the Achilles, shoulder, elbow, knee, foot and hip.

Tendons, the poor things, take a huge load with a relatively crappy blood supply, so it’s no wonder they struggle sometimes.

After seeing firsthand the frequency of tendon injuries we treat and the complexity around the different types (nothing like some extra post grad study to whet the appetite) we set up our specialist tendon injury clinic to make sure you are getting the right treatment at the right stage.

Tendons become painful when the loads put through these tendons are higher than what they can cope with. Basically, they get overloaded and overused!

They then start to lose their strength and become painful, sometimes swollen and weaker meaning they are less able to take the loads you are putting through them, thus creating a downward cycle.

Recognising the type of tendon injury, the stage and what pathway to take is vitally important as no two tendon problems are the same. Your treatment needs to be specific to you and will vary according to your specific problem.

Our Program
**So let’s run you through it:**

**History:** We’ll take a thorough history, identify the causes (there’s always underlying causes), assess how much loading you have been doing and the important bit for you- find out what you want to be doing again.
**Clinical assessment:** Here is where we test your biomechanics- the strong bits, weak bits and tight bits and have a little push and prod. Functional assessment – we need to see how you move which helps figure out part of the reasons for developing tendon pain in the first place.
**Diagnostic ultrasound:** We what to see what is happening internally and this is the imaging of choice for most tendon problems.
**Treatment:** After we’ve figured out why and what’s going on, we’ll design you a bespoke treatment program involving exercise-based treatment combined with hands on therapy where needed such as soft tissue release and joint mobilisations to improve your mechanics.

Your loading/rehabilitation program needs to be very specific to the stage at which your tendon problem is (the tricky part).

Tried the standard 3x15 calf raises off the step and found they haven’t worked? It’s unfortunately not quite as simple as that for some cases, you need the right rehab exercises done at the right stage.

It will be designed to address any strength and/or stiffness deficits which are causing your tendons to struggle and be tailored to get you back doing what you want again, be it getting out of bed pain free in the morning or running a marathon!

Tendon injury management tips:
**Rehab and education around loading is key.**

Try to have a healthy attitude towards your pain, it will get better with the right help, try not to stress about it too much, we won’t need to chop it off and start again, but don't ignore it.
Remain as active as possible within your pain limits, you may need a little rest from say running, but you should be able to safely bike or swim instead.
Get the correct and specific strengthening/loading program for you at your injury stage– this will be the ultimate fix!

A word of warning, be prepared to do the mahi to get the treats - a really good progressive exercise program for a really nasty tendon injury can run (excuse the pun) for 12 weeks or longer.

We also have a few other tricks up our selves for the really nasty ones- sports dr assessment, blood injection and shockwave therapy (sounds more scary than what they actually)……

book now