All About Tendonitis
Tendonitis (also spelled tendenitis) is due to inflammation of a tendon, producing pain with a sharp ache when stress is applied to the muscles in the area.
A tendon is like a long cord that acts as a go-between for the muscle and the bone. The muscle initiates the movement, and the tendon carries it out.
Inflammation of the tendon usually happens due to friction. You might be wearing contricting equipment like hockey pads or shoes, or more often a sheath of tissue enclosing the tendon starts rubbing on it when the tendon becomes swollen due to strain. The latter situation usually results in a diagnosis like “osteoarthritis,” or “repetitive strain injury” (RSI).
That’s what happened to me last year when I developed De Quervain’s Tendonitis in my right wrist and thumb. It started with a gigantic filing project at work involving stapling several thousand sheets of paper and inserting them into folders. I foolishly didn’t start using an electric stapler until halfway through the project, but it was too late.
The problem accelerated in the spring. I’m a long-distance kayaker, and after three 20-plus outings in the spring, my paddling season was done for the year. I decided that this year was going to be different.
The reason it’s so easy to develop tendon injuries as we get older is that tendons are naturally weaker than muscle. I had asked my hands to do a job that my muscles were up to but my tendons weren’t. The problem is that tendons don’t have a lot of nerve endings, so they couldn’t yell, “ouch, stop hurting me!” The same thing happens to typists, tennis players, carpenters, and just about anyone who works with their hands.
The solution, my doctor told me is exercise. That means putting just enough stress on the tendon to make the cells die and regenerate new ones, but enough to overstress it and make the problem worse. The idea is to make the tendon stronger than the muscles so the muscles will never again overpower the tendon.
My doc said to squeeze rubber balls. I looked at those, and I looked at the grip exercisers that guitarists use to strengthen their hands. But in doing some reading on the internet, I found that some people had made their tendonitis worse by doing these things. I thought it would be best to stay clear of these things.
I finally broke down and bought an NSD Powerball a few days ago. I’ll be documenting my progress with the Powerball here over the next few months as I work on rehabbing my wrist and thumb so I can get back out on the water by spring.