What is a Tendon Injury?
Tendons are the tough fibres that connect muscle to bone. Most tendon injuries occur near joints, such as the shoulder, elbow, knee, and ankle. A tendon injury may seem to happen suddenly, but usually it is the result of repetitive tendon overloading. Health professionals may use different terms to describe a tendon injury. You may hear:
Tendinitis (or Tendonitis): This actually means "inflammation of the tendon," but inflammation is actually only a very rare cause of tendon pain. But many doctors may still use the term tendinitis out of habit.
The most common form of tendinopathy is tendinosis. Tendinosis is a noninflammatory degenerative condition that is characterised by collagen degeneration in the tendon due to repetitive overloading. These tendinopathies therefore do not respond well to anti-inflammatory treatments and are best treated with functional rehabilitation. The best results occur with early diagnosis and intervention.