What Causes Tendonitis?

Do you want to know what causes Tendonitis, REALLY causes it?

There are all the usual answers, like Repetitive Motion, poor ergonomics, overloading the tendon, etc.

You probably already know all about those. And you're still in pain and looking for answers.

The usual answers are true, but aren't the actual cause.

Your body is totally able to perform repetitive motion, with poor ergonomics, while overload the tendon. All at the same time, even.

So, what causes Tendonitis pain and problem?

The Usual Answers to the Question:
What Causes Tendonitis?

All the experts say that if you use your body, or any body parts, in a repetitive motion, over and over that this will cause an RSI, or Repetitive Strain Injury.

All of which leads to Tendonitis.

For the most part, this is true, and is close enough to the truth to call it true.

But it's not the whole truth, nor the whole story.

There are plenty of activities we perform over an over, with no negative effects from.

Poor Ergonomics

All the experts say that if you work with poor ergonomics, you will more easily get a RSI, or RMI, which stands for Repetitive Motion Injury.

The theory is that if your body is lined up correctly, those repetitive motions will not cause your body to strain, and thus not to injure itself.

Again, that's pretty true, but there's more too it.

Overloading the Tendon

All the experts say that if you put too much load, too much weight, too much strain on a tendon, that will cause injury that will lead to tendonitis.

Too much load can certainly injure a tendon. Drop a piano on yourself, and you're bound to rip some tendon (and everything else).

But for most people, including athletes, you're not doing anything that should break your tendons.

True, if you're a couch potato, and you help your friend move heavy boxes and a couch all day, you can get a one time injury to your tendons.

Even then, the body should be able to take care of that and not become tendonitis.

But it does.

The trick is, it's not the moving and the injury that is the problem.

It's the way the body heals that causes Tendonitis.

What Causes Tendonitis?
Let's Go Deeper

Deeper into Repetitive Motion Injury

Whether you work at a computer all day, or play tennis, or throw a baseball, or crochet, it's the same.

You perform the same activity over and over and over. The body doesn't like this.

In short, the body tightens up and shrink wraps down around that very specific motion. Soon there is no room to move, and Inflammation and damage happen.

The trick to avoiding Tendonitis is to CHANGE IT UP. Make it different, regularly. Make your body adapt, shift, and stay alert.

Repetitive Motion is not a problem. The EXACT same repetitive motion is the problem.

Movement is life. The more you move, the more different movements you make, the happier your body will be.

This blends right into...

Deeper into Poor Ergonomics

Maybe you got your office set up by an Ergonomics specialist. Maybe your home office too.

Maybe your coach has shown you how to perform your sport with proper form.

The correct ergonomic posture, movement, and form, is very valuable to know.

You should also know this: Proper Ergonomics will help you stay out of pain longer, do more work before it catches up to you, and help you work with your current injury and slow the rate of it getting worse.

It is not a cure, nor a preventative. Learn more about New Ergonomics.

Deeper into Overloading the Tendon

It is important to keep your body strong and healthy. The stronger your body is, the more work it can do before it suffers wear and tear injury.

Couch potatoes injure easily because their tissue is only strong enough for sitting on the couch, getting micro tears easily.

Overloading can cause injury. But remember, I said that wasn't the real problem.

The body heals quickly. So what causes Tendonitis to stay so long and be so hard to get rid of?

The body heals fast, but the Nervous System causes lots of problems.

As I often say, the injury is not the problem. The way the body reacts to injury is the problem.

For more on that, go to the Pain Causing Dynamic page.

Deeper into Nutrition

Nutrition plays a huge, invisible role in the development and maintenance of Tendonitis.

If you don't have enough protein intake, then you don't have enough building blocks to maintain and repair tendon tissue. Likewise, you won't have enough building blocks to have structurally strong connective tissue throughout your entire body.

For a low cost, natural, food based approach that you can use at home, start making and eating Bone Broth as the best Tendon Supplement.

Vitamins and Minerals are very important too, of course. And our modern western diet is a poor source of quality nutrients.

I could put a long list here of important nutrients, but I'm just going to list a couple that I make pages for. They are all important, but some are more important than other.

Magnesium for Tendonitis is one of those that is vitally important for the avoidance of, and removal of, Tendonitis issues.

So, What Causes Tendontis?

1. Doing the EXACT same thing over and over.

2. Letting the body 'heal' you the way it does. You have to HELP it heal you the RIGHT way.

Looking into what causes Tendonitis is valuable to a degree. But a better question is 'How Do I Heal Tendonitis, Completely?'

How do you do that?

Read through this website.

Learn How To Reduce Inflammation.

If you have Carpal Tunnel, Tennis Elbow, or Plantar Fasciitis, get the corresponding Tendontis DVD. If you have a different type of Tendonitis, check back later for new DVD titles.

Or ask me a question on the Ask The Tendonitis Expert

page.

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