Tendinitis risk factors: who is more likely

What tendinitis is

Tendons are flexible bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones and help your muscles move your bones. Tendinitis is the severe swelling of a tendon. It usually happens after repeated injury to an area such as the wrist or ankle, and it causes pain and soreness around a joint (MedlinePlus).

NIAMS describes tendinitis as inflammation of a tendon. It often affects the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle (NIAMS). NIAMS groups it with the chronic (overuse) injuries, which usually come from repeating the same motion over and over and develop gradually over time (NIAMS).

Who is more likely to get it

Tendinitis can be caused by a sudden injury, but it usually results from carrying out the same motion over and over (NIAMS). NIAMS names these groups:

• Certain jobs and hobbies. People such as carpenters, gardeners and musicians have a higher risk (NIAMS).
• Certain sports. Some athletes, such as golfers and tennis players, have a higher risk (NIAMS). Some common forms of tendinitis are named after the sports that increase their risk: tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, pitcher's shoulder, swimmer's shoulder and jumper's knee (MedlinePlus).
• Getting older. Tendons become less flexible as you age, so you are more likely to get tendinitis as you get older (NIAMS).

Sports injuries are not limited to athletes: NIAMS notes that factory workers get tennis elbow, painters get shoulder injuries, and gardeners develop tendinitis even if they do not play sports (NIAMS).

Factors that raise the risk of overuse injuries

NIAMS lists these risk factors for sports injuries in general, including tendinitis (NIAMS):

• not using the correct exercise techniques;
• overtraining, by training too often or for too long;
• increasing the intensity of physical activity too quickly;
• playing the same sport year-round;
• running or jumping on hard surfaces;
• wearing shoes that do not have enough support;
• not wearing the proper equipment;
• having had a prior injury;
• having certain body features specific to each joint, or poor flexibility;
• taking certain medicines, such as fluoroquinolones, a class of antibiotics linked to tendinitis and tendon rupture.

The type of injury you are most vulnerable to depends on the activity you do, your age and your sex (NIAMS).

Common types

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). The tendons in the elbow can develop small tears, wear down and become inflamed, causing pain on the outside of the elbow. Painters, plumbers, carpenters and others who use their forearms over and over are also at higher risk (NIAMS).
• Golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis). A form of tendinitis that causes pain in the inner part of the elbow, which may spread to the forearm and wrist. Golfers and others who repeatedly use their wrists or clench their fingers can develop it (NIAMS).
• Rotator cuff injuries. These happen when the tendons or bursae near the shoulder joint become inflamed from overuse or a sudden injury. They are common in people with jobs that involve overhead motions, like painters, and in athletes who reach upward over and over, such as tennis players and swimmers (NIAMS).
• Achilles tendinitis. The Achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the back of the heel. People with Achilles tendinitis usually feel pain and stiffness at the back of the heel, especially in the morning. It is usually a chronic condition caused by overuse, but serious cases can lead to a tear that may need surgery (NIAMS).

Signs

Tendinitis causes pain and soreness around a joint (MedlinePlus). NIAMS lists these symptoms of a chronic overuse injury: pain when you play or exercise, and swelling and a dull ache when you rest (NIAMS).

Diagnosis and treatment

Doctors diagnose tendinitis with your medical history, a physical exam and imaging tests. The first step in treatment is to reduce pain and swelling: rest, wrapping or raising the area, and medicines can help, and ice helps for recent, severe injuries. Other treatments include ultrasound, physical therapy, steroid injections and surgery (MedlinePlus).

NIAMS says you should not try to "work through" the pain of an injury: when a movement or activity hurts, stop right away, because continuing may cause further harm (NIAMS). Without signs of a serious injury, NIAMS describes home care with rest, ice (20 minutes at a time, four to eight times a day), compression and elevation, and checking with a health care provider if pain or other symptoms persist or get worse (NIAMS). A rehabilitation program after healing can help you return to your activity and reduce the chance of reinjury (NIAMS).

Lowering your risk

The NIAMS pages fetched for this guide give no separate prevention list for tendinitis. Several of the risk factors it lists are things you can change: using the correct technique, not overtraining, not increasing intensity too quickly, wearing shoes with enough support and the proper equipment (NIAMS), and stopping an activity that hurts instead of working through the pain (NIAMS).

Common questions

Is tendinitis the same as bursitis?

No. Tendinitis is inflammation of a tendon. Bursitis is inflammation of the bursae, small fluid-filled sacs that cushion a bone and other moving parts such as muscles, tendons or skin. Both can come from repeating the same motion many times (NIAMS). See bursitis risk factors.

Do you have to play sports to get it?

No. NIAMS notes that gardeners develop tendinitis and factory workers get tennis elbow even if they do not play sports (NIAMS).

Why does it get more common with age?

Tendons become less flexible as you age, so you are more likely to get tendinitis as you get older (NIAMS).