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Type 2 Help with managing Tendoitis

J

jacquiarm

Member
Messages
6
Hi everyone

Can anyone help with advice on how best to manage tendonitis / tendonopathy, particularly in Achilles’ tendon and from fingers to elbow? I believe this can be common in us diabetics.

I am a 53 yr old female, T2, no meds and currently in remission (last HbA1c was 44) and following a LCHF diet. I also have a physically active job that involves being on my feet all day.

I do all the usual things such as gentle stretching and warm ups etc but still suffer with a lot of tendon pain which can keep me awake at night and doesn’t respond to normal pain killers.

Any advice on supplements or certain foods to avoid/eat gratefully received.

TIA

Jacqui
 
Welcome to the forum.
I haven't found anything to help my Achilles' tendon, but had steroid injections into my wrist tendon from the gp. One helped within a couple of days, the other one didn't make a lot of difference, but with rest it eventually eased. You can also buy special fingerless gloves to wear overnight to keep your wrist straight, I just googled tendonitis in wrist. Repetitive movements like typing aggravate it for some people. Hope you can get an appointment soon.
 
Rest. Rest. Rest.
Until after the pain has gone completely.
Then v slow, incremental exercises to rebuild strength that you lost during the rest.

tendonitis is usually microtears in the tendons. If you don’t let them heal properly before putting the tendon under strain again, you will just rip the microtears back to the beginning, and have to start the rest all over again.

https://www.disabled-world.com/health/orthopedics/chronic-tendonitis.php

voice of experience here. I have just spent over a year with tendonitis (and bursitis) aggravated by some truly inept physio therapy. Thank heavens for lockdown. Helped me to actually do the rest I needed. After about a year of hobbling and 6 months of 1 or 2 sticks or 2 crutches, and finally finding a chiropractor who has helped me undo the wretched physio damage, I am FINALLY able to walk short distances unaided, and the real rehab can begin.

so rest first, then please find a good quality healthcare professional to tailor your exercises.
 
Last edited:
I have had a number of tendon issues in my hands and I found steroid injections were helpful when they were very bad. However these are not a long-term solution since they cannot be repeated indefinitely. Other than that, I found it best to rest and stop doing the things that aggravated the issue until the pain was gone, and then be very mindful of the problem in the future and cease an activity as soon as I experienced discomfort.

Ultimately I had surgery for tendon nodules and trigger finger and I haven’t had any tendonitis since that was fixed, and my hands recovered. Took over a year for one hand! But I think surgery is only a solution for certain related issues and perhaps not for just inflammation.
 
Hi, I was told mine stemmed from poor posture habits, and I also had some physio and chiropractor appointments over a period of roughly a year. I needed some treatment mainly to loosen tight muscles and then exercises to strengthen the correct muscles and improve my posture, but have also had to remember to do exercises to prevent recurrence since. So far so good (luckily!) Good luck!
 
Hopeful34 said:
Welcome to the forum.
I haven't found anything to help my Achilles' tendon, but had steroid injections into my wrist tendon from the gp. One helped within a couple of days, the other one didn't make a lot of difference, but with rest it eventually eased. You can also buy special fingerless gloves to wear overnight to keep your wrist straight, I just googled tendonitis in wrist. Repetitive movements like typing aggravate it for some people. Hope you can get an appointment soon.
Click to expand...

Thank you - I had seen the wrist supports and will give them a go. I’d rather avoid steroid injections if I can as I’ve heard that they can cause more problems in the longer term.
 
UK T1 said:
Hi, I was told mine stemmed from poor posture habits, and I also had some physio and chiropractor appointments over a period of roughly a year. I needed some treatment mainly to loosen tight muscles and then exercises to strengthen the correct muscles and improve my posture, but have also had to remember to do exercises to prevent recurrence since. So far so good (luckily!) Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thank you - I see a chiropractor regularly so I’ll mention it to her.
 
Brunneria said:
Rest. Rest. Rest.
Until after the pain has gone completely.
Then v slow, incremental exercises to rebuild strength that you lost during the rest.

tendonitis is usually microtears in the tendons. If you don’t let them heal properly before putting the tendon under strain again, you will just rip the microtears back to the beginning, and have to start the rest all over again.

https://www.disabled-world.com/health/orthopedics/chronic-tendonitis.php

voice of experience here. I have just spent over a year with tendonitis (and bursitis) aggravated by some truly inept physio therapy. Thank heavens for lockdown. Helped me to actually do the rest I needed. After about a year of hobbling and 6 months of 1 or 2 sticks or 2 crutches, and finally finding a chiropractor who has helped me undo the wretched physio damage, I am FINALLY able to walk short distances unaided, and the real rehab can begin.

so rest first, then please find a good quality healthcare professional to tailor your exercises.
Click to expand...

Thank you - Brunneria. I’ll speak to my chiropractor. Unfortunately being able to rest is the problem as I have a very physical job that involves being on my feet all day, but will try to take it as easy and slowly as I can.
 
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