tendon problems

[erik]

i have aggravated the tendon that connects my calf muscle to the back of my knee? hamstring? not sure.

has anyone done the same thing? i heard that i should just stay off of it and massage(or have my girlfriend massage) it with icy/hot. the massage part sounds coooool, though i don't know about staying off of it, last time i hurt myself and had to take it easy i went insane with boredom and ended up getting a job.(yuck). any advice will be appreciated.

[Courtenay]

How'd you aggravate it? For how long? History of problems there?

Best thing to do is use it as much as you can while still remaining pain free -- if that means partial range of motion activities, fine. After all, if you have ever had a cast on your body, you're probably already aware of the atrophy that occurs with muscle that's not used. Ice is best within the first 3 days of aggravation to reduce swelling, and then you might try alternating heat (hot tubs work great) and ice (Icy/hot). You also might want to try some gentle stretching for the affected area and massage gently at the same time. And when in doubt, it's usually a good idea to have a sports medicine doc or good PT take a look and see if there is something else you could be doing in the meantime. "Use it or lose it" with caution -- keep moving, but keep it pain free. Hope these tips help.

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Courtenay Schurman, CSCS

[rayborbon]

I have aggravated my achilles tendon several times to the point where I was on crutches for a couple of weeks due to pain.

I recommend you treat your injury with care prescribed by a doctor or whomever qualified. It can lead to a longer lasting injury in the long run or a repeating problem. I agree that you should treat it with heat and stretch it.

However keeping fit and enjoying the mountains can be hard to resist.

-Ray

[scott]

this sounds like an i.t. band problem. it is the most common athletic knee injury, the major symptom is pain in the back of or side of the knee. the tendon runs from your pelvis down to your knee. the problem is partly caused by running or climbing/hiking until you are tired, which causes your knee to bend slightly inward. i had this problem, stopped running for two weeks and got new running shoes with inserts, haven't had it since. it happened when i increased my milage too quickly. there is also an elastic band that goes around your leg that is supposed to help this problem. there is info on the web about this. take ibuprofin and cut back for two weeks. ice helps too.

[Courtenay]

If, indeed, it IS in fact an IT band problem and you'd like to try some stretching for it, a good one is as follows (we'll have a picture of it up soon): Stand sideways to a wall with the affected leg (the one to be stretched) closer to the wall. Cross the other (balancing) leg in front of the leg to be stretched, with arm pressing torso away from the wall and (balancing) foot on the floor. Lean into the hip to feel a good stretch all the way up the side of the leg -- think of your body in a sort of arcing "C" position with hip closest to the wall, feet and shoulders away from the wall. Hope this makes sense.

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Courtenay Schurman, CSCS

[Alpine_Tom]

The brutal truth is that tendons (and other soft tissue) take an obscenely long time to heal. I have been suffering from a tendon problem on my thumb (called Dequervein's Tenonsynovitis, FWIW) for a couple of years now, and in retrospect, I’d much rather I just broke a couple of bones in my wrist and hand; I’d be long healed by now.

The basic treatment is two-fold: anti-inflamatory medication, plus…rest. The rest is the killer, of course. Icing is good, since it also reduced swelling-inflamation.

One thing I’ve learned from this is that different people respond to different anti-inflamatories. Advil might work fine for you, or maybe Naprosyn, or something else. There's about a dozen widely used (mostly prescription) anti-inflamatories out there, and the only way to know which will work is to try it. But in any case, they only work as an adjunct to the primary treatment, which is rest.

It’s possible to get a cortisone injection into the tendon, which will provide near-immediate relief (but it feels about how you’d expect an injection of battery acid might feel!) However, these injections weaken the tendon, and they don’t replace the rest portion of the treatment, only the oral anti-inflamatories, so you feel great for a month or so until it wears off.

The bottom line, see your doctor and beg or threaten until he/she refers you to an orthopedic surgeon or rheumatologist. Maybe a sports-medicine specialist would be worthwhile, if you don’t have insurance that forces you go to through a primary care physician. Heck, even if you don’t have insurance, paying cash to see the doctor is cheaper than losing a year or more of your climbing life.

[This message has been edited by Alpine Tom (edited 02-21-2001).]