I've been Diagnosed with Tendinopathy, what does that mean? Tendinopathy means pathology of a tendon.  Tendons are connective tissues which connect muscle to bone, they are extremely strong tissues and assist with transmitting forces from the muscle to bone thus assisting movement and loaded transfer.  In recent years, there has been much research into tendon pathology.  The term "tendinopathy" has replaced the well-known terms "tendonitis" and "tendinosis" as a result of this.  We now know that the tendon itself does not become inflamed as initially thought; which is where the [...]

How can I treat my Tendinopathy? As mentioned in our article last week, a reactive acute tendon can respond nicely to a period of unloading and anti-inflammatories.  After the tendon itself has settled down then it is important to load the tendon with a tailored exercise program.  Both clinically and in the literature it has been shown that tendons respond to progressive heavy loads. Wait, didn't you say that loading the Tendon caused my pain in the first place? Yes and No!  Yes, tendon overload can be one of the [...]

Usually the injuries we see in runners are as a result of overload. Most of our bodies are pretty efficient at healing our bones, joints or muscles when they have been loaded a bit too much. Recovery then allows the structures to adapt to the stress and become stronger, so that increasing the amount of load or stress over a period of time will enable you to increase distance and speed without injury. However, loading the tissues at a greater rate than they can repair, leads to failure and injury. [...]

It has been suggested in the literature that as many as 30-50% of people will experience shoulder pain at some point in their lives with many experiencing pain annually. As there are many reasons why you may have shoulder pain, it is important to have a thorough assessment to figure out the cause of your pain and commence a treatment plan.  However, one of the most common presentations of shoulder pain we see in the clinic is due to rotator cuff pathology. There are multiple terms given in the literature to [...]

Autumn is upon us and the running season has well and truly kicked off as runners prepare for events such as the SMH half marathon in two weeks and the famous City to Surf in August. In our Clinic, many of the injuries the runners are presenting with, around this time, relate to an increase in their training loads and volumes.  It is suggested in the literature that almost 80% of injuries arise due to error in training loads.  Within the "Physio, Strength and Conditioning World" we talk about the Goldilocks Principle [...]

Continuing on from our blog last week, below are some safe ways for runners to incorporate the principles spoken about into their training plan : 1.   Remember the Goldilocks Principle; running just enough to cause adaptive changes, but not enough to cause injury.  Apply the 24 hour rule: if you recover well after 24 hours with no discomfort or pain, then your body can tolerate the load that it is being placed under.  If there is pain or discomfort, we need to be kind to ourselves and reduce the loading [...]