Tendonitis can be stubborn… Believe me I know, as I have had many bouts with it in different parts of my body. Elbow, wrist, even hip tendons can become inflamed and stay that way for months if not years if not properly addressed. The good news – there are a few modalities that can help push it out much faster than if treated with just rest alone.
Tendonitis is inflammation of the thick fibrous cords that attach muscle to bone, which are called tendons. The condition is usually caused by a muscle being overstrained from repetitive use. Most doctors simply recommend rest, anti-inflammatory medications, ice, and physical therapy to treat tendonitis, but this advice doesn’t always work, or prevent the issue from becoming chronic. Here are a few tips on ways to prevent tendonitis from becoming chronic, as well as how to treat it if does:
1. Repeatedly self-massage the associated muscles that attach to that tendon. For instance, for shoulder tendonitis, do self massage on the bicep and deltoids to relax these muscles. For bigger tendons, such as those in the hip, do a foam roller on glute and IT band muscles. The goal here is to reduce tension in muscle and give the tendon some slack so it is not pulled so tight. You can massage the tendon itself if it is not too painful, that will bring more blood supply to it to repair it
2. Get acupuncture. Acupuncture brings much more focused circulation to tendons. The problem with tendons is that they tend not to get much blood flow, unlike muscles, which do, and heal quickly. Acupuncture needles can direct blood and qi (energy) directly into the inflamed tendons and can provide quick relief.
3. Nutritional Analysis can address any deficiencies, inflammatory food reactions, or toxicities affecting the tendons. When a tendonitis becomes chronic, this is the best modality to help it – more than any manual therapy. Why? Because any chronic inflammatory condition has a very strong internal component – something affecting the blood that is continually harming the system.
What could these factors be? Some examples are wheat, sugar, corn, chocolate, mercury or arsenic toxicity, gmo or glyhphosate, or excessive Electromagnetic Frequency exposure. These are just examples, but also are common causes of why inflammation does not go away. Sometimes zinc or calcium or magnesium deficiency can create problems, in that the tendons just don’t have the materials needed to rebuild properly. Using nutritional analysis, we can identify the underlying issue and address it using diet, supplements, and lifestyle.
I have seen many people seek one manual therapy after another (such as physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, etc) and still be unable to get rid of their tendonitis. These are cases that I urge people to come in for Nutritional Analysis, as we can get to the bottom of things and get the problem solved.
