Health and Wellness

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Could Chiropractic Care Help Your Tendinitis Symptoms?

Pain becomes a constant part of your life when you’re suffering from tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, swimmer’s shoulder, or any other form of tendinitis. Chiropractic care offers an effective way to ease pain, tenderness, and swelling during your recovery.

What Is Tendinitis?

Tendons are strong cords of tissue that connect muscles to bones. Your tendons help your muscles move your bones and absorb shock when you move. Tendinitis occurs when the tendons become inflamed. Although tendons are flexible when you’re young, they stiffen and weaken as you grow older. Unfortunately, this may mean they become inflamed more easily.

Tendinitis can affect tendons anywhere in your body, causing pain that may last several weeks. Although the injury often affects athletes, anyone can develop tendinitis. Participating in activities that involve repetitive motions, like hitting a ball or running, raises your risk for tendinitis. Other risk factors include poor posture, jobs or sports that require overhead movements, or working with vibrating tools. You might also develop the condition after spending the weekend weeding your overgrown flower beds or swiping your finger across your smartphone.

Tendinitis can also be caused by overuse, which could occur if you exercise too long or too intensely. According to an article in American Family Physician, overuse injuries most often affect the:

  • Rotator Cuff in the Shoulder
  • Elbow
  • Patellar Tendon in the Knee
  • Achilles at the Back of the Heel

Symptoms of tendinitis include:

  • Pain, Which May Worsen at Night or When You Move the Muscle or Joint
  • Warmth, Swelling, and Stiffness
  • Crackling Sound When Moving the Affected Part of Your Body

How Chiropractic Care Eases Tendinitis Symptoms

Your visit to the chiropractor starts with a thorough examination to determine why you have tendinitis. Although you may know that playing golf is the reason your elbow hurts, your chiropractor can determine if a muscle imbalance or other underlying issue is a contributing factor.

Visiting your chiropractor could help you:

  • Relieve Pain. Your chiropractor offers a variety of treatments aimed at easing your pain, including hot and cold therapies, massage, soft tissue mobilization, ultrasound therapy, and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy. Chiropractic treatment prompts your body to release natural painkillers and promotes healing by increasing blood flow.
  • Improve Flexibility. Swelling and inflammation causes stiffness, reducing your range of motion and worsening pain. In addition to massage, soft tissue mobilization, and other treatments, your chiropractor may use spinal manipulation to realign the vertebrae in your spine and reduce stiffness. Misaligned vertebrae can press on nerves and cause muscles and tendons to tighten. Once your vertebrae are correctly aligned, you may notice that flexibility improves.
  • Get Rid of Scar Tissue. Your body reacts to an injury by creating new tissue around the injured area. Although this reaction is certainly helpful initially, scar tissue buildup restricts your movement and triggers pain. Chiropractic treatments break up scar tissue that can limit your flexibility and range of motion.
  • Decrease Inflammation. Inflammation, a major factor in pain and stiffness, can be worsened by misaligned vertebrae. Realigning the vertebrae not only reduces pressure on nerves and tissues but also relieves inflammation. In a research study published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, researchers noted that spinal manipulative therapy reduced the production of inflammatory agents in people with low back pain. Although this study focused on low back pain, spinal manipulation could have the same effect on inflammation throughout the body.

During your visit, your chiropractor may also show you a few exercises that will strengthen your muscles, eliminate muscle imbalances, and decrease your risk for developing tendinitis in the future.

Need help managing your tendinitis symptoms? Contact our office to make your appointment for chiropractic treatment.

Sources:

American Family Physician: Common Overuse Tendon Problems: A Review and Recommendations for Treatment, 2005

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2005/0901/p811.html

Chiropractic & Manual Therapies: Effects of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on Inflammatory Mediators in Patients with Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Non-Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, 1/8/2021

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7792327/

Mayo Clinic: Tendinitis, 11/11/2022

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tendinitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378243

Arthritis Foundation: Tendinitis

https://www.arthritis.org/diseases/tendinitis

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Benefits of Massage Therapy with Chiropractic Care

Many people view massage therapy as a method for relaxing and letting go of stress. These are two benefits, of course, but massage therapy is also an incredible tool for healing various issues.

How Does Massage Therapy Work?

Therapeutic massage is a method through which firm strokes or pressure are utilized in a target area. This technique helps break up nervous tissues to relieve pain and address motion restrictions. These benefits are commonly known, but this approach does much more than that.

As treated, an area pulls blood and other healing nutrients to kickstart the body’s natural healing processes. As a result, damaged tissue can regenerate and heal, relieving pain and reducing inflammation.

Massage therapy is also beneficial, as it promotes the release of endorphins in the body. This method provides a feeling of relaxation and reduces or eliminates your pain.

Combine Massage Therapy with Other Methods

Both the hard and soft tissues of the body work together and rely on each other to keep you healthy. Therefore, when there is an issue in either area, it can cause an issue in the other. Consequently, the hard and soft tissues must be treated for full and lasting relief.

Conditions Massage Therapy Can Address

Therapeutic massage has been used for many years to address various conditions and symptoms. The following are just a few conditions our team uses it for.

  • Joint Pain – Joint pain and stiffness often come from a combination of issues in the hard and soft tissues. Adjustments, massage therapy, and other methods can help reduce pain, discomfort, and reduce or eliminate joint stiffness to get you back to moving well.
  • Back Pain – Any issue in the back tends to pressure the spinal bones and the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Spinal adjustments, massage therapy, and therapeutic exercise help to address these components, fully and effectively relieving back pain.
  • Shoulder Pain – In most cases, shoulder pain comes from overuse of the muscles due to work or sports. Massage therapy is a safe and natural way to relieve pain, restore range of motion, and prevent future injuries.

Neck pain, headaches and migraines, scoliosis, sciatica, and carpal tunnel syndrome are other conditions that can benefit from therapeutic massage with our team.

Experience the Benefits of Massage Therapy with Our Chiropractor

If you’re suffering from pain, limited range of motion, or other issues in the musculoskeletal system, the team at The Russell Center for Chiropractic & Sports Medicine can develop a personalized treatment plan for relief. Call their office at (978) 927-2607 to schedule your appointment today.