New Treatment for Sore Tendons

Painful tendons are some of the most common problems we see at MP Sports Physicians. This includes elbows (“tennis” and “golfer’s” elbow), shoulders (rotator cuff tendons), Achilles tendons, knees (patellar tendons, or “jumpers knee”), hips (often called “bursitis”), hamstrings and others at the wrist, hand, foot and ankle. In medical terms, tendon pain is called “tendinopathy”.
The major part of treating a sore tendon is to develop a regular and well-structured program of exercises to strengthen the tendon. Pain relief and methods of preventing excessive load to the tendon is also important, and we can help to work out a suitable plan for you.

When your tendon is not responding to these measures, then it becomes necessary to consider other treatments that may improve your pain so that you can recommence the exercise program. Our understanding of tendon tissue and healing has been a developing science, with major advances in the last 10 years. We now have a number of possible treatments that have been shown to work through good clinical studies.

To decide exactly which treatment is right for your tendon sometimes requires some investigation, often with an ultrasound scan. This can show the structure of the tendon, and differences in structure can help us choose which treatment is most likely to help you. We can perform an ultrasound scan of your tendon at the time of consultation at either Mornington or Frankston, which means that we can plan your treatment sooner.

Some of the treatment options for tendinopathy may involve injection into or around the tendon. This is often best done under direct vision with the ultrasound machine. Again this is a technique that we can perform in the clinic in many cases.

Our aim is to get your tendon to improve with training, and to help guide you back towards the things you would like to be able to do.