Symptoms of Tendinitis
Tendinitis is a general term to describe inflammation of a tendon, a thick, rope-like tissue that attaches a bone to a muscle. It is one of the most common causes of soft-tissue, musculoskeletal pain. Tendinitis most often is caused by repetitive, minor impact on the affected area, or from a sudden, more serious injury.
The main symptom is pain at the injured tendon, especially during use. The pain may be chronic or sudden and feel sharp. Other symptoms include swelling, warmth, tenderness, and redness. The latter is called “erythema,” which is the dilation of blood capillaries that occurs as part of the inflammatory process.
Tendinitis can be confused with muscle strain. The distinction is that in a muscle strain, the pain occurs in the muscle itself, whereas in tendinitis, the pain is felt near where the muscle attaches to the bone.
Where Does Tendinitis Occur?
Tendinitis can occur in almost any part of the body where a tendon connects a bone to a muscle. Tendinitis most often is caused by repetitive, minor impact on the affected area, or from a sudden, more serious injury. The most common sites include the shoulder (especially the rotator cuff), elbow, wrist, knee, and ankle. Some common condition names that indicate frequent sites of tendon problems:
- Swimmer’s shoulder, also called shoulder impingement, is a condition where swimmers often aggravate their shoulders while they swim due to the constant joint rotation. This can lead to inflammation of one of the rotator cuff tendons at the top of the shoulder,
- Tennis elbow is a condition that causes pain around the outside of the elbow,
- Golfer’s elbow causes pain on the inside (medial) of the elbow,
- De Quervain’s syndrome is swelling and inflammation of the tendons that move the thumb outward,
- Jumper’s knee (patellar tendinitis) is caused by inflammation and/or degeneration of the tendon that sits just below the kneecap.
- Achilles tendinitis is an overuse injury affecting the back of the ankle and the heel of the foot.