Is chronic tendon pain holding you back? There are several advances which can now ease your pain without the need for surgery. Chronic tendinitis can affect your shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles and heel and be difficult to treat. While acute tendinitis and inflammation responds well to rest, ice, physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications, chronic tendinosis does not. When proper healing of the tendon does not occur or micro-tears or partial tears are present, chronic and recurrent symptoms can occur. Traditionally, open surgery was required in these cases. It is now well known that minimally invasive procedures, such as tenotomy or platelet rich plasma injections (PRP) can promote tendon healing and resolved symptoms faster than traditional surgery. Tenotomy can be performed in the office with local anesthesia with ultrasound guidance. Ultrasounds allows your doctor to visualize the abnormal tissue and perform the tenotomy. Percutaneous tenotomy (thru the skin) is also performed using ultrasound guidance. The TENEX probe (Tenexhealth.com) cuts the diseased tissue and tendon and leaves normal tissue intact. The recovery is faster than when open surgery is performed so you can return to your activities sooner. Speak to your doctor about these options to find out if you are a candidate and which is the right one which for you.
