Overuse & Tendon Problems
Problems that develop gradually can be frustrating, particularly when there hasn't been an obvious injury. You might notice discomfort during an activity you've done for years, or find that something which initially settled with rest keeps coming back. Sometimes there's been a change in what you're doing; other times, nothing much seems to have changed at all.
Have I been doing too much?
Sometimes symptoms follow an increase or change in activity. But problems can also develop without any obvious change in what you've been doing.
Is something damaged?
Pain around a tendon, muscle or joint doesn't necessarily mean something has been torn or worn out. Understanding what's contributing to the problem is often more useful than simply giving it a label.
Should I rest or keep going?
Rest might help temporarily, but returning to the same activity can bring symptoms back. Finding the right balance between activity and recovery is often important.
Why does it keep coming back?
Feeling better doesn't always mean you're ready to return to everything you were doing. Sometimes rebuilding your capacity is an important part of a lasting improvement.
Have I been doing too much?
Sometimes symptoms follow an increase or change in activity. But problems can also develop without any obvious change in what you've been doing.
Is something damaged?
Pain around a tendon, muscle or joint doesn't necessarily mean something has been torn or worn out. Understanding what's contributing to the problem is often more useful than simply giving it a label.
Should I rest or keep going?
Rest might help temporarily, but returning to the same activity can bring symptoms back. Finding the right balance between activity and recovery is often important.
Why does it keep coming back?
Feeling better doesn't always mean you're ready to return to everything you were doing. Sometimes rebuilding your capacity is an important part of a lasting improvement.
Whatever the activity or the area that's bothering you, the important thing is working out what's contributing to the problem, what you can comfortably keep doing, and how to build back towards the things you want to do.
Ready to get started?
Book an initial physiotherapy consultation and we'll help you work out what's going on and what to do next.
Common Questions About Overuse & Tendon Problems
Although these problems can develop in different parts of the body and during very different activities, many of the questions people have are surprisingly similar.
Let's follow three people who've developed problems with their shoulder, Achilles tendon and elbow, and explore some of the questions we commonly hear about what's causing their pain, whether to rest or keep going, and how to get back to the things they enjoy.
1. I’ve got this problem… nothing obvious happened, but it’s not improving.
Sometimes pain starts without a particular injury.
You might first notice it swimming, walking or running, at the gym, at work, or doing something you’ve done plenty of times before. At first it might only bother you occasionally, but then you start noticing it more often — or it begins getting in the way of things you normally do.
There may not have been a twist, fall, pull or other obvious moment when something went wrong.
It just seems to have crept up on you.
2. Maybe I’ve overdone something?
Sometimes there is an obvious clue.
You’ve started swimming more often, increased your walking or running, changed something at the gym, spent longer at the computer, or had a particularly busy period at work.
But sometimes there hasn’t been a big change at all. You’ve been doing much the same things you normally do — they’ve just started bothering you.
So yes, what you’ve been doing may be part of the story. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve simply “done too much” or damaged something.
3. So what have I actually done?
When something keeps hurting, it’s natural to want to know what it actually is.
Is it a tendon? A muscle? A joint? A bursa? Is something inflamed, torn or wearing out?
Where you feel the pain and what brings it on can give us useful clues. But problems that gradually develop don’t always fit neatly into a single structure or diagnosis.
And even when there is a recognisable diagnosis — such as a tendinopathy — the name alone doesn’t necessarily tell us why it has become a problem for you or what you should do about it.
That’s where an assessment can be useful: working out what seems to be contributing to the problem, how it behaves, and what that means for what you do next.
4. Should I rest it or keep going?
When something hurts every time you do it, stopping for a while can seem like the obvious answer.
And sometimes backing off for a bit does help. The problem is that you can rest until it feels better, go back to the same activity… and find yourself right back where you started.
On the other hand, repeatedly pushing through something that is becoming more painful or irritable isn’t necessarily helpful either.
Usually the useful question isn’t simply “rest or keep going?” — it’s what can I keep doing, what might I need to change for now, and how do I build back up?
The answer will be different depending on the problem, the activity and how your symptoms respond.
5. How do I fix it?
The first step is working out what seems to be contributing to the problem and what you can comfortably do at the moment.
Treatment might include hands-on treatment to help settle symptoms, changes to how much or how often you’re doing certain activities, and exercises to gradually build your capacity back up.
The balance will be different for everyone. Early on, the priority might be getting things comfortable enough that you can keep moving. As things improve, the emphasis usually shifts towards doing more and progressively building back towards the things you want to do.
The aim isn’t simply to make it feel better for a few days — it’s to help you get back to using it with confidence.
6. How do I stop it happening again?
Once things are feeling better, the job isn’t necessarily finished.
The next step is making sure you can comfortably handle the things you want to get back to.
That usually means gradually rebuilding your capacity for the activities that matter to you, rather than simply waiting until the pain has gone and jumping straight back in.
You don’t need to make yourself bulletproof, and there’s no way to guarantee that something will never bother you again.
The aim is to leave you knowing what you can do, how to build things up, and what to change if the problem starts grumbling again.
Ready to get it sorted?
Book an initial physiotherapy consultation and we’ll help you work out what’s contributing to the problem, what you can keep doing, and how to build back towards the things you want to do.
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