Rest calms a tendon down. It does not build one back up.
Tendon pain runs a pattern most people recognize immediately. It hurts when you start, it warms up and eases off, then it is sore that evening and stiff the next morning. Two weeks off makes all of it go away. Then you go back to the same activity at the same capacity, and the tendon fails again in exactly the same spot.
Tendons are built by load. They adapt to what you ask of them, slowly, and they protest when the jump is too big. So the answer is not less. It is the right amount, in the right direction, added at a pace the tendon can keep up with, along with fixing whatever further up the chain left it carrying more than its share.
Tendon pain has a signature.
Tendinitis behaves differently from joint pain or nerve pain. How your symptoms move through the day is usually enough to tell us we are dealing with a tendon before we touch it.
Sore to Start, Then Better
The first minutes of activity hurt, the tendon warms up, and then it bites again once you stop.
Worse the Next Morning
Stiff and tender the day after a heavy session, which is the clearest sign the load outran the tendon.
Pinpoint Tenderness
You can put a finger on it. Pressing the tendon itself reproduces the pain, and it is the same spot every time.
Pain Against Resistance
Gripping, pushing, or holding a weight in one position hurts more than moving the joint freely does.
Thickening Over the Tendon
A swollen or ropey feel along the tendon, common at the Achilles, the patellar tendon, and the outside of the elbow.
It Keeps Coming Back
It settles with rest, returns within weeks of resuming the activity, and the cycle has now repeated more than once.
Settle the tissue, then load it on purpose.
Your physical therapist identifies which tendon is irritated and, just as importantly, why it ended up carrying more than its share. Shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and heels are the sites we see most, and in nearly every one the explanation sits partly in the joint above or below it.
Manual therapy and IASTM work on the tissue and the restrictions around the tendon so it can move without catching. Then loading does the actual rebuilding: specific, measured, and progressed week to week so capacity goes up instead of just settling down. You leave knowing which sensations are acceptable and which mean back off, so you are not guessing between visits.
No referral needed. Most insurances accepted. Doors open at 5:00 AM, so you can be seen before work.
What our patients say.
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No referral needed. Most insurances accepted. Doors open at 5:00 AM.
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