Tendonitis is a condition affecting the tendons. Tendons are the strong, rope-like tissues that connect your muscles to your bones. When tendons become inflamed, it results in tendonitis, which is characterized by pain in the joints. Tendonitis commonly occurs in the elbows, knees, shoulders, or hips.
Tendonitis is usually caused by repetitive motion or strain to the tendons in your joints. If you play a sport such as tennis or if you’re a runner, those repeated movements can put strain on your tendons and cause inflammation.
Treatment Options for Tendonitis Pain
If you are experiencing tendonitis pain, the good news is that there are a variety of treatment options to help you get relief.
- Traditional Home Remedies. The first treatments to try are basic things you can do at home. Rest and stop doing the activity that is causing the tendonitis. Elevate the affected part of the body and apply ice to reduce swelling. Apply heat intermittently with a heating pad or heat patch. Wrap the joint with an ace bandage to reduce swelling and prevent the tendon from being further strained.
- Medication. Try over the counter pain relievers like acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Alive, Motrin), or naproxen sodium (Aleve). Always follow the instructions on the bottle for dosage unless your doctor advises you to do otherwise. If these are not effective, your doctor may be able to prescribe you a stronger pain reliever.
- Physical Therapy. Injuries to muscles or tendons can often be relieved with physical therapy. Physical therapy involves doing exercises and stretches with the help of a physical therapist. The purpose is to strengthen the muscles and increase range of motion. It can also help you learn how to properly move your body to prevent further injury.
Treatments From a Pain Specialist
Sometimes the above treatments are not enough to provide effective and lasting relief. A pain specialist can provide additional treatments that are known to offer immediate pain relief and help patients manage their pain over the long term.
- Steroid Injections. Pain specialists can inject steroid medications directly into the tissue around the affected joint. Steroids promote healing of the inflamed tissue, reducing the inflammation and providing pain relief.
- Platelet Rich Plasma. This is a state of the art treatment option for pain as well as other health conditions. The process involves taking a sample of blood, spinning it in a special machine to separate the platelets, and then reinjecting it into the affected area. This procedure puts blood with a higher concentration of healing cells right where healing is needed. This treatment provides long lasting pain relief because it accelerates healing rather than masking the pain.
- Nerve Block. This is another type of injection that blocks or numbs the nerves that are sending the pain signals to the brain. A nerve block injection can be applied in just the right place to block pain in a specific area of the body.
Benefits of Going to a Pain Specialist
If your pain is not managed by home remedies or traditional pain relievers, there are benefits to going to a pain specialist, such as:
- Effective pain relief. A pain specialist can provide you with a variety of treatment options that truly work.
- Longer lasting results. Treatments offered by a pain specialist are designed to provide longer lasting pain relief that can last for weeks or more.
- Avoid side effects of pain medication. Pain medication, especially prescription strength types, have undesirable side effects. Some are habit forming and others lose their effectiveness over time. Some medications are strong enough to relieve your pain, but make it difficult to go about your daily activities.
- Heal rather than mask pain. Some treatments provided by pain specialists promote actual healing to permanently stop the pain, such as Platelet Rich Plasma.
The American Pain Institute Provides Treatment for Tendonitis Pain
Do you want long lasting relief from your tendonitis pain? Tendonitis can be very painful and difficult to treat. But the specialists at the American Pain Institute have the expertise needed to provide you with effective, lasting pain relief. You don’t have to suffer from chronic pain or give up the activities you love because of tendonitis. The American Pain Institute is here to help.
Call 603-766-8500 or contact us to schedule an appointment. We look forward to providing you with lasting relief of your tendonitis pain.