Escaping The Tendonitis Triple Trap
What Is It That Traps So Many
Tendonitis Sufferers In A Needless Cycle Of Misery—Despite All The Pills,
Braces, Ice And Exercises? And How Do You Avoid Their Costly, Painful—Even
Disabling Mistakes?
You're about to learn how to avoid a heap of pain and
frustration - The same pain and frustration too many Tendonitis and tendon
injury sufferers needlessly endure every year, because they never get the
information you have right here.
Many will continue struggling with the same burning pain and
irritation you do - flare-up after aggravating flare-up, for weeks, months or
even years longer than they have to - due to mistakes, misinformation and
mismanaged therapy.
That's what this report was written to prevent—For you, at
least. You’re about to realize the simple, but seldom recognized or published
truth about:
- What really causes Tendonitis and keeps it from healing
properly, leaving you vulnerable to exasperating re-injuries,
- Why the
standard medical treatments so often FAIL…
- And how to
dramatically shorten your recovery—WITHOUT harmful pills, painful shots,
or taping and icing hassles…
While most Tendonitis sufferers continue to wonder in annoyance
why they’re not getting any better!
There is a small
catch, though:
You may need to change your mind about Tendonitis, especially
what causes it and how to best treat it, regardless of what you’ve already been
told by various prestigious and authoritative sources.
It’s a small change, but a vital one, if you want to spare
yourself from making any choices which, no matter how well intentioned, logical
sounding, or commonly recommended by numerous Doctors, therapists and
medical websites, might actually slow your recovery and prolong your suffering.
And, so you can avoid wasting another minute or another dime on ineffective,
inconvenient—Or outright
harmful treatments.
Keep reading, then, if you’re open to changing your perspective
and to discovering the surprising truth about Tendonitis that 99% of all health
practitioners don't know—And most Tendonitis sufferers tragically never learn…
How Tendonitis
Creeps Up On You—And Why It May Be More Serious Than You Think At First
You may not have given it
much thought in the beginning… After all, your Tendonitis probably didn’t seem
all that serious at first.
You see, what's so devious
about Tendonitis is that it’s not a sudden, obvious injury like a cut, bruise
or broken bone.
Tendonitis usually comes on
slowly. It sneaks up on you, and either you don't even notice it at first, or
you don’t realize the seriousness of it. You tend to brush it off, thinking
it's nothing— But slowly it builds with each backhand, stride or keystroke.
You start to feel a little
burning, some stiffness in the morning. It seems like an irritating—But
minor nuisance. And chances are, you just ‘self-treat’ at that point,
grabbing some anti-inflammatories from the medicine cabinet and some ice from
the freezer…
Only, you don’t realize how much damage is being done… You
can’t SEE the scar tissue building up - And
by the time it starts to get
truly painful, you already have a full-blown injury!
Eventually, it dawns on you:
This thing is disrupting your life and sucking all the joy out of your running,
tennis or golf—Or worst of all—It’s interfering with your work and livelihood.
And that's when
you head to your family doctor to get checked out.
What
Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Tendonitis
One minute you’re at your
doctor’s office, complaining about stiffness, burning—Even sharp pains in your
tendons, and being told something along the lines of:
"You probably have Tendonitis. Take these
anti-inflammmatories wear this brace… And come back if that doesn't take care
of it."
Before you know it, you’re
back… And this time it’s a prescription for ultrasound at the physical therapy
clinic… Next time, your doctor starts talking about Cortisone injections…
But, will your well-meaning
doctor ever tell you these standard medical treatments basically just treat
your symptoms?… That they don’t really treat the CAUSE of the problem?…
Will you be told that most Tendonitis sufferers struggle through
flare-up after disappointing flare-up, in spite of the injections, pills, ice,
tape and ultrasound? (Not likely.) Sooner or later you find out for yourself,
though: Nothing seems to help for long—If it helps at all…
WARNING:
You May Be Stuck In The Tendonitis
Triple
Trap!
Maybe you do manage to enjoy a few weeks or months free from
pain, thanks to the standard treatments, but then one day after a few sets on
the court or a few extra hours at the keyboard, that old, familiar, burning
irritation shows up again—Worse than ever.
So, like most Tendonitis sufferers, you take a few more pills,
do a little more icing and maybe even resort to that Cortisone injection, still
thinking you’re doing something about your problem—But, in reality, only
covering up the symptoms of it…
WAIT
A MINUTE!
Are you letting medicine’s short-sighted, ‘Just-Treat-The-Symptom
Thinking’ leave you with no option but to live with the uncertainty of
when your next Tendonitis flare-up will be?…
Never certain you understand the cause of your problem?…
Dependant on harmful drugs to manage the pain and get through your run, your
game or your workday?
Every day countless Tendonitis sufferers make the mistake of
going to their doctors, getting prescriptions for their pain and inflammation,
and looking no further, because that’s what everyone else seems to be doing -
and they don't know any better.
No one can blame you for wanting relief from your pain, of
course. Just keep this one thing in mind:
You can’t expect to
permanently break the cycle of pain and inflammation by only treating those
symptoms—Any more than
you can expect to permanently put out those trick re-igniting birthday candles
by blowing on them!
The danger is that the injury CAUSING your Tendonitis may become
more severe, without the symptoms to
warn you when you’re overdoing it.
Not to mention the risk of serious gastrointestinal and other
side effects from anti-inflammatory drugs. “GI tract ulcerations and bleeding
can occur without warning”!! One popular brand admits.
And once considered a miracle drug, Cortisone has been found
to degrade and weaken the tissue injected with it. (See left
sidebar.)
Bottom line: These
drugs may SLOW your healing!
Is fighting
inflammation really worth these risks? Here’s why not…
TENDONITIS
TRIPLE
TRAP:
MISTAKE #1
“Misunderstanding the inflammation process”
The
first mistake, so many Tendonitis sufferers make, is neglecting to understand
the HEALING PURPOSE of the inflammation process…
We’re
falsely led to believe that by suppressing the inflammation with
anti-inflammatory drugs we’re helping the healing process
—Only inflammation IS part of the healing process!
And
these drugs may instead be SLOWING and prolonging the healing of the injury!
Inflammation
Is NOT The Cause Of Your Tendonitis
As you probably know, when you suffer from Tendonitis, what you
have is a tendon that has become inflamed. The ‘itis’ in Tendonitis (or
Tendinitis) means an inflammatory condition.
Although many ‘textbook’ medical explanations almost make it
sound as if the inflammation itself is the cause of the problem, it CAN’T be,
because inflammation is a symptom.
§
Inflammation
isn’t the CAUSE of your Tendonitis—It’s a symptom of your tendon INJURY.
§
First comes the
injury, the cause—THEN comes inflammation, the effect.
Just as “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire”—Where there’s
inflam-mation there’s INJURY. Inflammation doesn’t cause injury, though,
any more than smoke causes fire!
Of course, inflammation does cause pain, and by suppressing it
we know we can relieve the pain - It ‘works’ - Right?
***That’s the trap: The
first Tendonitis treatment trap, waiting to ensnare unsuspecting
Tendonitis sufferers…
It just seems so reasonable that by treating the inflammation
we’re helping the healing process - Doesn’t it? - Who can deny it almost always
feels better when we pop a couple of anti-inflammmatories, for a few,
fleeting hours, anyway…
There’s only one problem: Inflammation
IS part of the healing process!
What Does It Mean If
The Inflammation Won’t Stop Or Keeps Coming Back?
Recurring or lingering (chronic) inflammation is a blaring alarm
that the injury isn’t successfully healing, and the incompletely healed
tissues keep getting re-injured. With every re-injury the inflammation
process is triggered all over again.
Anti-inflammmatories may also be interfering with healing and
delaying the repair of the injury. In effect, postponing the inflam-mation
until the next insult re-injures the poorly repaired tendon.
There’s only one way to PERMANENTLY eliminate the pain and
inflammation from an injury: Completely HEAL the injury.
Okay, so where is the injury? How did it happen? And why didn’t
it heal correctly the first time?…
OVERUSE INJURY
Tendonitis is what’s known as an Overuse Injury or ‘Repetitive
Strain Injury’ which means exactly what it sounds like:
Repetitive
movements slowly and progressively overload and Strain first the muscle
and then the tendon, causing Injury.
With
Tendonitis, the injury is usually in the form of Micro-Trauma. (See below)
MICROTRAUMA
‘Microtrauma’
is the general term for tiny or microscopic injuries in the body.
With Tendonitis, tiny tears can occur in the muscle, the
tendon, tendon sheath, or where the tendon attaches to the bone. Pain may not
be felt at first—But later it can become severe.
ACUTE INJURY
The
injury is called ‘Acute’ if the tendon or muscle is injured suddenly, by being
partially torn, called a ‘Strain,’ or fully severed, which is called a
‘Rupture’
(A ligament tear is called a ‘Sprain.’)
Your Tendons: The
Not-So-Obvious Way They Get Injured—And Why They Often Don’t Heal Properly
Tendons are the ‘cables’ that connect your muscles to your
bones. A tendon’s job is to transfer the muscle’s pull to the bone it moves.
A lot like a rope, a tendon is strong, dense and fibrous. And
just like a rope, it carries the load. The tendon doesn’t CREATE the movement.
It just transfers the movement to the bone.
Muscles do all the ACTIVE work, contracting when needed, and ideally,
relaxing when not needed. And since tendons are PASSIVE, if there’s too
much tension on a tendon, it’s because the muscle is pulling too hard on
it—It’s not the tendon’s ‘fault.’
Tendonitis can sometimes begin with a sudden, forceful injury;
the tendon tears, (called a ‘strain’) it doesn’t heal properly, and it
keeps getting re-injured. The initial injury weakens the tendon, and it becomes
a recurring, chronic injury.
Most of the time, though, Tendonitis doesn’t begin with a
sudden, forceful injury—Instead, the damage happens slowly, insidiously,
as the strain from overuse escalates.
Terrible
Pain From A Tiny—Almost Invisible Injury
The injury can be very tiny and still pack a big punch. All it
takes is a little microscopic tearing in the tendon (‘Micro-Trauma’) to
cause inflammation, scarring and a shocking amount of pain!
Whether from a sudden, major
tear, or a prolonged series of tiny tears, tendon injuries can be very hard
to recover from, because:
- Tendons don’t have
as good a blood supply as muscles and most other tissues - Which may partly explain why the inflammation
is often so persistent: One of its purposes is to increase the circulation
to the injured area to aid the healing process…
- Muscle
tension keeps aggravating the injured tendon -
Muscular tension is already a major cause of Tendonitis. (More
about this coming up on page 9.) Unfortunately, this muscular tension often
increases with Tendonitis, putting MORE strain on the injured tendon…
- And the scar tissue, which forms to repair the
tear, is often of poor quality…
TENDONITIS
TRIPLE
TRAP:
MISTAKE #2
“Getting
stuck in the Scar Tissue Issue”
The
second, and most critical mistake Tendonitis sufferers so often make, is not
dealing with the scar tissue that inevitably builds up.
No one tells them that:
Muscles and tendons initially heal with weak, messy scar tissue
The final stage of the healing process, which would reshape the
scar tissue and make it stronger, often stalls and remains incomplete.
And assisting the ‘Remodeling’ of the scar tissue, with the
right therapy, is often crucial to a full recovery.
SCAR TISSUE: Every
Injury Causes It—What Do You Do About It?
If you cut your finger or
scrape up your knee, within days an ugly scar will form. That’s the way we
usually think of ‘Scar Tissue.’
Well, it’s basically the same stuff you end up with when you
injure a muscle or tendon. Scar tissue is what repairs the tear.
Unfortunately, even under the best of circumstances, scar tissue
is never a perfect repair—It will NEVER be absolutely, 100% as strong as the
original tissue—And unless something is done about it, it will often
end up MUCH WEAKER. Here’s what too often happens:
§
The scar
tissue keeps re-tearing – Which
creates even MORE inflammation—More scar tissue—And more pain…
§
The scar
tissue glues everything together – This ‘ADHESIVE
Scar Tissue’ haphazardly binds - Not only the torn tissues - But the
surrounding, healthy tissues as well! The worse this gets, the more flexibility
you loose…
§
And the last
stage of healing often stalls – The
final phase of healing, which is supposed to improve this
crude, initial scar tissue, often doesn’t get completed.
***Failing to deal with
the Scar Tissue Issue is the second and most
serious mistake made by Tendonitis sufferers.
And the secret to radically shortening your Tendonitis recovery
time lies in releasing or ‘REMODELING’ that scar tissue…
The Crucial—But
Often Overlooked Healing Stage You MUST Complete For A FULL Recovery
When
muscles, tendons and other ‘Soft Tissues’ are injured, there are three
stages in the healing process:
- The first, which you’re probably familiar enough with
already, is inflammation. (The ‘Acute Inflammatory Phase’)
- The second,
where most of the repair work is done, is called the ‘Repair or
Regeneration Phase,’ which produces scar tissue to repair the damage…
- But, it’s the third and final, ‘Remodeling
Phase’ that’s the least understood—And most in need of help...
The
critical Remodeling Phase is when the scar tissue gets reshaped, to
create a STRONGER, more FLEXIBLE and lasting repair.
EARLY MOVEMENT
VERSUS FIXATION WITH BRACES, TAPE OR SPLINTS
Should
injured muscles, tendons and ligaments be firmly immobilized with braces,
splints or tape—Or should movement begin early in the healing process?
Experimental
and clinical studies are showing that ‘early mobilization’ [controlled
movement] is superior to immobilization for the early treatment of ‘Acute Soft
Tissue Injuries’ [Sudden, traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, etc.]
Pekka Kannus, MD, PhD—
THE PHYSICIAN AND
SPORTSMEDICINE Vol 28,
No 3, MAR ‘00
Some immobilization is necessary in the beginning for severe
tendon injuries. But too much immobil-ization (too little movement) during the
repair phase of the healing process —With ANY type of tendon injury can result
in:
· Poor
healing
· A weaker repair
· Adhesive
Scar Tissue
· Reduced flexibility
· And a higher risk of re-injury & pain
Are You Making Your
Scar Tissue Even WORSE?… The Truth About Splints, Taping & Other ‘Supports’
Remodeling requires movement to reshape the scar tissue. Most
Tendonitis Sufferers don’t get enough of the right kind—In fact, by bracing or
taping—Many mistakenly do the opposite!
Bracing and taping
can cause excessive scar tissue —
Restricting muscles and tendons with splints or tape as they’re
healing —As logical as it may sound—Will not only create excessive scar
tissue, it guarantees the scar tissue will be of the weakest possible quality.
Now, ‘quality scar
tissue’ may sound like a crazy contradiction… After all, who, in their right
mind, wants scar tissue?
But, when you injure a muscle or tendon, scar tissue is the only
way your body can fix it—You want SOME of it—Only just enough to do the job and
no more. And it needs to be strong yet flexible.
The remodeling phase of healing is what ensures this—IF it gets
completed.
At best, it’s a slow process, lasting from
3 months to a year or more.
Unfortunately, it often stalls long before finishing. Leaving
behind a weak and unstable repair, prone to re-injury and recurring flare-ups.
Why Strength
Training Is NEVER The First Thing A Muscle Or Tendon Needs To Recover From
Injury
Strength or conditioning exercises are often prescribed to
rehab. injured muscles and tendons—And this can help with the remodeling
process (although no where near as quickly and effectively as the muscular
therapy method you’re about to learn)…
But conditioning exercises can easily become an exercise in
futility, because the timing is often wrong—If instead:
- FIRST, the muscle
is released from its chronic tension, to take the
strain off the tendon, and…
2. NEXT,
the adhesive scar tissue in the tendon is
released… The muscle and tendon will THEN be fully ready for exercise.
Otherwise, the risk is that the increased load will lead to more
injury and pain, by causing new tearing in the muscle or tendon— Or re-tearing
of the scar tissue. (Which happens all too frequently.)
TENDONITIS
TRIPLE
TRAP:
MISTAKE #3
“Thinking the injury will simply heal by itself in time”
The final mistake Tendonitis sufferers all too often make is
thinking that their injury will heal by itself—Given enough time.
Time
alone just isn’t enough though. Even if things seem fine for a few weeks or
months…
The incompletely healed scar tissue often re-tears under even a
modest load, and the whole mess flares up again worse than ever.
The remodeling
stage of healing often NEEDS HELP and can’t be left to chance—Not if one wants
to regain as much strength in that injured tendon as humanly possible.
Escaping The Tendonitis Triple Trap © 2004 Allen Willette Page - 9
Will
My Tendonitis Go Away By Itself Eventually?
If you’re thinking: “My
Tendonitis will go away if I just wait long enough or rest it enough,”
you may want to reconsider…
***That’s
the third mistake many Tendonitis sufferers make.
The harsh truth is, even with
the best attempts at rehabilitation, tendons often fail to heal completely.
And the weak, painful,
partially-healed scar tissue that marks most tendon injuries isn’t necessarily
helped by the passing of time.
If tendons did heal
easily by themselves, they wouldn’t have one of the notoriously highest rates
of re-injury and one of the slowest rates of recovery in both
sports AND work-related injuries.
If The
Pain Is Gone Haven’t My Tendons Fully Healed?
Not necessarily. The absence
of pain can be deceptive, and many Tendonitis sufferers are misled by it. Just
because the pain disappears for a while doesn’t mean your injury has fully
healed.
If your scar tissue hasn’t
been fully remodeled, so it becomes a stronger, more resilient repair, it
will remain a vulnerable WEAK SPOT—An accident waiting to happen.
If you’re symptom-free at the
moment, it may only be a ‘false calm’ before the next strain on your poorly
healed tendon(s) triggers an even bigger flare-up—But let’s do our best to
prevent that...
The
Hidden, MUSCULAR Root Cause Of Tendonitis
Are you aware of how much
tension there is in your muscles?… (The ones attached to your injured tendons,
in particular?)
You may be able to feel
it—Then again, you may only feel the pain in your tendons—But that’s exactly
what’s so sneaky about it:
The muscular tension often
builds up unnoticed, because it’s so easy to miss the subtle early-warning
signs, like muscle soreness, stiffness and fatigue. That’s where the problem
innocuously starts.
And while most Tendonitis sufferers are busy icing their
tendons, taping them up—Or having them injected with Cortisone, their muscles
invariably keep tightening—Pulling harder and harder on those vulnerable
injured tendons.
What those muscles
need is to be released from that chronic tension —NOT iced, ‘strengthened’ with weights or zapped with
electricity.
HYPERTONICITY
Excessive tone, ‘too much tension’ in a muscle—Which can cause
‘Ischemia’ (See below.) and contribute to injury in the muscle or tendon.
ISCHEMIA
A major factor in muscular and tendon pain…
Muscular
Ischemia occurs when the muscle doesn’t get enough blood flow to supply the
level of oxygen needed for the muscle’s function, and to carry away its waste
products, including Lactic Acid.
The waste products build up and start irritating the nerve
endings, causing pain.
Less blood circulation + less oxygen + more irritating waste
products = PAIN.
Highly
irritable, painful spots called ‘Trigger Points’ can also form in the muscle OR
the TENDON, which can mimic Tendonitis. (There’s pain, but no inflammation.)
How Tendonitis
Starts With Muscle Tension—And Is Then Repeatedly Aggravated By It: A Vicious
Cycle
- Tension first builds up in the muscle – The strain from overuse
causes a gradual build up of muscular tension that often goes unnoticed at
first, or is too easily ignored…
- The chronic muscular tension injures the tendon
– As the
overuse continues, this excessive tension causes irritation and injury (Micro-Trauma)
in the attached tendon (Triggering inflammation, pain and scarring)…
- And the
nervous system, reacting to the injury and pain, protectively TIGHTENS the
muscle even FURTHER –
This protective ‘Splinting Reflex’ tries to guard the
injury by immobilizing the area—But, unfortunately, this increases the strain
on the overloaded tendon, causing more irritation and injury. (And more
inflammation, pain and scarring.)
To reverse this dangerous chain reaction, the muscle must be
fully released from chronic tension—Which is just as crucial as releasing the
scar tissue. Here’s the fastest way to accomplish both…
How To Dramatically Speed Up Your Muscle And Tendon
Healing—And Cut Short Your Tendonitis Recovery Time: The Soft Tissue Release
Method
If you’re looking for the fastest recovery from your Tendonitis—
Without giving up your sport or your work… If you want to regain your strength
and flexibility as quickly and easily as possible—And avoid exasperating,
unpredictable flare-ups…
Soft
Tissue Release Therapy is your answer.
Soft Tissue Release (STR) solves both the muscular tension
problem and the ‘Scar Tissue Issue’—Which together cause Tendonitis and keep it
from healing properly:
§
STR relieves
the excessive strain on your tendon -
By releasing the harmful,
stubborn tension coming from the muscle.
§
And STR
restores your tendon’s strength and resiliency
By releasing scar tissue—And
freeing any adhesions ‘gluing’ your tendon to surrounding tissues…
This
powerful therapy achieves this more efficiently than any other method, by
accelerating the vital Remodeling Phase of healing.
What Marin & S.F. Bay Area Tendonitis Sufferers Are Saying About How The Soft Tissue Release
Method Has Helped Them:
San Francisco E.R. Physician Wins 10-Year Battle With
Recurring Tendonitis Injury (IT Band/Hamstring Tendonitis)
“As an emergency physician and spinal cord injury researcher, I
take care of patients daily with both acute sports injuries and over-use
syndromes. Over the past several years I have become convinced that “modern
medicine” offers little hope of full recovery for certain sports injuries and
musculoskeletal disorders.
Although I do prescribe RICE therapy (Rest, Ice, Compression,
Elevation) to patients with acute injuries, I strongly believe that chronic
injuries [like Tendonitis]
require a more balanced muscular/movement based approach to both heal the
injury and prevent re-injury.
As a former collegiate cross country/track runner and now as a
runner and triathlete, I have had my fair share of injuries over the years. One
particular injury, an Ilio-tibial Band Tendonitis, had chronically
limited my running/biking and swimming and frustrated my long-term goals… [From 1992 to 2002. Details omitted for brevity]…
By the end of our third session, I had begun noticing amazing
results. Instead of
experiencing the familiar tightening, painful sensation around my
IT-band while running or cycling, I began to feel a stretching sensation.
As Allen continued to “release” certain antagonist muscles, I
was able to dramatically increase my runs to 12-14 miles, a distance I hadn’t
been able to run for 6 years. My biking distances and efforts also improved
dramatically.
In addition to the therapy, Allen has given me new stretches and
self-massage techniques that help me take control over my injuries.
I cannot recommend Allen Willette more highly, as I feel that
his bodytherapy techniques have given me a new opportunity to attain my
lifelong athletic goals.”
Sincerely,
William D.
Whetstone M.D.
Assistant
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Division of
Emergency Medicine, U.C.S.F.
Avid Golfer Makes Dramatic Breakthrough And Overcomes
Chronic Tennis Elbow Injury After Traditional Therapies Fail
What Allen did for me and my classic "Tennis Elbow"
Tendonitis differed from previous treatments in several important ways:
First, he looked beyond the specific injury to understand how
other muscles and tendons were contributing to the problem and inhibiting
recovery. In my case this led to a major breakthrough.
Allen's intuitive skill with the soft tissue release technique, which
takes advantage of the fact that muscles repair themselves more quickly if they
are treated while in motion, was the second big difference, resulting in
dramatic improvement within weeks.
Of course, the biggest difference is that his treatment actually
worked. Previous therapy
attempts, including resting the injury, cortisone injections, months of
physical therapy, special armbands, and ice packs, had been uniformly
ineffective.
Allen's professional manner as well as his deep knowledge of
anatomy, physiology and biomechanics contribute strongly to his effectiveness.
I recommend him highly.
Zach McReynolds
Ross
Professional
Cellist Recovers From Stubborn Rotator Cuff Tendon Injury, And Chronic Arm Pain
Threatening His Career
As founding cellist with the Grammy Award winning Turtle Island
String Quartet for 21 years, I had never suffered the pain of tendonitis that
plagued many of my friends in the music business until last year, when it
became increasing difficult to get through my concerts without grimacing from
the pain in both my arms.
Realizing that my livelihood was threatened, I felt a deep sense
of despair. Luckily I found Allen's tendonitis report through his website, made
an appointment and immediately felt the first relief in months.
More recently, a head-on car accident resulted in shoulder pain
that did not heal with months of chiropractic sessions.
Allen's focused, gentle work was effective immediately, and
almost miraculously, the shoulder pain was gone, my range of movement was
restored, and the joy of feeling great in my 48-year-old body returned.
Mark Summer
Marinwood
Dedicated Tennis Player, Refusing To Be Defeated By
Serious Elbow And Forearm Tendon Injury, Desperately Resorts To Botox Shots
After Traditional Therapies Fail—Then Finally Makes A Full Recovery With Soft
Tissue Release Therapy
I was on my last
leg before surgery, moving towards either an invasive procedure or giving-up my
preferred exercise and favorite hobby altogether.
My injury was
becoming excruciatingly painful and the mobility of my right arm was becoming
extremely restricted. I couldn’t even turn a doorknob or lift my young children
without [extreme] pain, much less continue to play Tennis!
An MRI eventually
revealed a tear in one of my forearm muscles, but only after a full year of
Physical Therapy, including heat, E-stim., ice and strengthening exercises
failed to improve my condition. Still more physical therapy was prescribed,
nonetheless, and I continued receiving it for another 4 months.
I also tried
Acupuncture, Osteopathy, weekly deep-tissue massage treatments, pain and sleep
medications and Ibuprofen. None with any lasting effect. I became so desperate
for relief from the severe pain I even resorted to trying Botox injections!
Allen’s method of
Neuromuscular Rehabilitation changed the way my arm felt for the first time in
2 + years, helping me to become pain free, to sleep comfortably and to continue
my regimen of tennis 3 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I was initially as skeptical about this therapy as I was about
all the other therapies I had tried, but after only 4 sessions, there was a
noticeable decrease in my pain and increase in my range of motion.
What was
different about this therapy was that I never had to stop playing tennis! Every other therapist insisted I stop playing tennis completely
and not even use my arm, supposedly in order to help it heal.
Not only have I
seen improvements in my overall strength and coordination, I have significantly
improved my game, and am moving to the next level in my league.
Thanks Allen for
all you’ve done for me! I am convinced your method of Neuromuscular Rehab is
not only a means of rescue, but also a means of preventing injury. I would be
proud and happy to refer any person with my similar injuries to you. I’m
confident that you will heal them as you did me.
Thanks again,
Sophie C.
Belvedere
Rotator Cuff Injury
Sufferer, Still Weak And In Pain Months After Tendon Surgery, Receives Just
Four STR Therapy Treatments, Then Rafts Down The Colorado River—Completely Pain
Free
The trip was great… I was able to row as hard as necessary
and to function completely without pain for the whole trip.
I took my entire medicine cabinet of pain medications with me
and never took as much as an aspirin for shoulder pain. In fact, my shoulder
never felt better on a raft trip…
In no small way, I owe this to your treatment. Thanks for
helping to make my trip a success. (Since I came back my shoulder as been fine,
so I am working out normally.)
Would You Like To
Find Out If This Breakthrough Therapy Can Help With Your Tendonitis Too?
Dear Tendonitis
Sufferer,
As I’m sure you’re starting to realize, each passing day you
don’t solve the problem causing your Tendonitis, is a day you suffer more pain,
weakness and irritation than you have to, enjoy your favorite sports and
activities less than you should, and settle for more stress and struggle than
you deserve.
Those days add up quickly, don’t they? Why endure them a minute
longer?
Or, if your problem is only just surfacing, why not simply
bypass the mistakes so many others have made, and avoid all the frustration,
struggle and wasted time, now that you know better?
Hello, my name is Allen Willette. I’m a former chronic
Tendonitis sufferer, and Neuromuscular Therapist who’s been helping others with
their tendon problems for several years now.
I hope this report has at least given you a new perspective that
makes more sense, and helps you in your recovery, even if we never meet.
Please keep reading, though, if you think my therapy might be
just what you need, and I’ll try to help you find out. (Assuming you do live
here in the San Francisco Bay Area.)…
You probably have
some questions at this point…
“What’s so
special about this therapy?” you
may be wondering.
For one thing, unlike conventional Physical Therapy/rehab, you
don’t need to do it 2-3 times a week for several weeks before you have even the
slightest idea whether it will help or not!
(Which is what
your Doctor would probably expect of you, before even considering listening to
your objections that it’s NOT helping.)
One or two
treatments of Soft Tissue Release is usually enough to begin to see an
improvement—Three, at most, in severe cases.
And once you
start seeing the positive signs of improvement, like:
§
Less
irritation, pain and stiffness,
§
More strength
and endurance,
§
And greater
mobility,
Your can usually
count on your progress continuing at a steady rate from then on, until you’re
fully recovered and pain free.
Actually, there’s
an even better part:
If you read some
of my patients’ success stories earlier, one thing they all had in common
(besides some initial, healthy skepticism!) was that they kept right on
running, playing, performing (and paddling down the Colorado!)
throughout their treatments and successful recoveries.
There are
sometimes exceptions with severe cases, of course, but it’s entirely possible
you could recover from your injury and heal your tendons without playing
less tennis, cutting down on your golf game or taking precious time off
to rest at all!
Whereas without
the right therapy, sometimes NO AMOUNT of rest is enough to recover fully, as I
discovered with my injury 15 years ago. You try returning to your favorite
activity, only to feel it flaring up all over again.
Please don’t get
me wrong, though—I’m NOT trying to pass this off as some miracle cure that will
fix your problem instantly. All I’m trying to say is that this is a better
therapy for muscle and tendon problems.
Another major
difference between this approach and conventional Physical Therapy is the
amount of individual attention you get.
Here you get a full hour of focused therapy
in each treatment.
Compared to the
rushed, impersonal experience of being handed a prescription and shoved out the
door—Then struggling in a crowded rehab clinic, while the therapist juggles
several patients at once.
To your speedy recovery,
ADDENDUM
“I Was
Shocked, Frightened And Nearly In Tears…”
(My
Own Battle With Chronic Tendonitis)
Having examined my sorry, injured wrists, the stern Orthopedic
hand surgeon bluntly informed me I was in the wrong profession!
“Your wrists won’t last if you continue in this occupation,”
he solemnly pronounced, “It’s not a good career choice for you.”
I was suffering at the time from chronic Tendonitis (‘Extensor
Tenosynovitis,’ to be precise) in the tendons of BOTH my wrists, caused by the
repetitive strain of my work.
After a year of constant struggle on disability, with no
significant improvement in my wrists, I was still unable to work, and facing an
increasingly hopeless outlook.
There I sat, in stunned, frightened silence, in the surgeon’s
office— wondering: Was this injury going to stop me dead in my tracks and
deprive me of my true calling—As this doctor seemed to believe?
Not a chance! Well over a decade has now passed, and I can look
back on that surgeon’s bleak declaration and LAUGH, because he couldn’t have
been more wrong!
Not only am I still in this profession I love - breezing along INJURY
FREE ever since - but I’m working harder than ever!
How did I get from that miserable place - scared, depressed and
disabled by Tendon injuries – to where I stand today?…
…Free from pain and injury, confident I’ll never have to worry
about Tendonitis ever again—And now able to help others struggling with the
same confusing, aggravating problem?
I’m sure you know it wasn’t thanks to drugs, shots or surgery!
The answer’s right here in this report.
The thing is, once you understand the root cause of Tendonitis,
and what keeps it from healing properly, it suddenly becomes a relatively
simple matter to heal the injury and prevent it from ever happening again.
You may be skeptical and find
that tough to believe. I know it may even seem insurmountable to you now, as it
did to me years ago…
But once you start releasing all that troublesome scar tissue
and built up muscle tension—And start feeling so much better and stronger, I’m
utterly confident you’ll see what I mean!
BODY IN BALANCE · 21 Tamal Vista Bl,
Corte Madera, CA 94925 · 415 927-7565
To request a consultation visit: www.bodyinbalance.com/tendonitisconsult.htm
Are You Stretching
The RIGHT Way? How Stretching The Wrong Way Can Worsen Your Injury
Are you stretching at all? Your injured tendons may not need to
be stretched – but the muscles attached to those tendons do.
The
question is: How do you stretch injured muscles SAFELY?
Unfortunately, many Tendonitis sufferers, instructed by
well-meaning therapists, make the mistake of stretching in a way that risks
further injury.
Physical therapists, athletic trainers and other therapists may
not agree about how long to hold a stretch: 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30—Or even
longer, but they will almost always tell you to HOLD a stretch for some length
of time.
That would be a mistake—Especially when it comes to holding the
stretch on an injured muscle—Or muscle attached to an injured tendon (basically
the same thing.)
Forget everything you’ve been told about holding stretches—No
matter how many times you’ve heard it…
You’re risking further injury to your muscles and tendons by
stretching that way. (Heck, you’re
risking injury anytime you hold a stretch.)
Here’s why: There are very sensitive tension sensors called ‘Muscle
Spindle Cells’ that detect the amount of stretch in your muscles and
guard against muscle injury from over stretching.
These cells will trigger a protective contraction in your muscle
called the ‘Stretch Reflex’ if they detect too much tension.
How much is too much tension? Ah, that’s the thing: ‘THEY’
decide. These cells and the reflexes they trigger are largely beyond our
conscious control—And they tend to over react. Considerably.
Now, the stretch reflex can actually happen anytime you stretch
a muscle, but it’s even more likely to be triggered if the muscle (or tendon)
is already injured.
You see, the Muscle Spindle Cells have already been ‘tweaked’ by
the injury. These sensor cells also set off the reflex that tries to guard the
injury, by tightening and immobilizing the injured muscle and its surrounding
muscles, called the ‘Splinting Reflex.’
When you put tension on the injured muscle and tendon – by
stretching and HOLDING it – these cells, which are already on hair-trigger
alert, can go off and cause a major muscle spasm.
BODY IN BALANCE · 21 Tamal Vista Bl,
Corte Madera, CA 94925 · 415 927-7565
To request a consultation visit: www.bodyinbalance.com/tendonitisconsult.htm
If you’re lucky,
you’ll just have some pain and inconvenience…
But, if you’re unlucky, that spasm, pulling even harder on the
tendon, may further tear it or the weak scar tissue in it—Setting off another
round of inflammation and pain—And setting you back days or weeks in your
recovery.
So what’s the right way to stretch? By NOT holding the
stretch for more than 1 or 2 seconds.
In other words:
- By taking your muscle into a stretch,
- Reversing and easing out of the stretch within 1-2 seconds,
- And then repeating the stretch.
This is NOT a ‘bounce’ in any way—It’s a slow, deliberate
circular movement, in and out of the stretch.
There are some other principles involved, but when it comes to
tendonitis, the idea is to AVOID the stretch reflex and any potential muscle
spasms, which could damage the tendon – and also, to avoid directly putting too
much strain on the tendon, by stretching too forcefully.
I know this flies in the face of what you’ve repeatedly been
told about stretching, but if you only stay in the stretch for a second or two,
you will sneak by the stretch reflex, rather than doing battle with it!
By releasing the tension on your muscle, as you go in and out of
the stretch, you also create something of a pumping action. You increase the
exchange of blood and lymph fluid, which is very helpful for healing tight,
injured tissues.
If you’d like to learn more about this new way of stretching,
check out Aaron Mattes book, ‘Active Isolated Stretching.’
To Ice
Or Not To Ice
§
FACT: Inflammation is a necessary and normal part of the healing
process.
§
FACT: Inflammation increases the circulation to the injured area to
supply all the factors needed to repair the injury.
§
FACT: Tendons do not have as good a blood supply as muscles—And
therefore, have less circulation to begin with, and more difficulty healing…
BODY IN BALANCE · 21 Tamal Vista Bl,
Corte Madera, CA 94925 · 415 927-7565
To request a consultation visit: www.bodyinbalance.com/tendonitisconsult.htm
How, then, does suppressing the circulation to the injured
tendon with ice help the healing process? - Wouldn’t heat, in fact, make more
sense?
BLASPHEMY! “Always use ice when there’s inflammation,” they’ve
been saying since World War Two. – What about CHRONIC inflammation, though?
Sure, you wouldn’t use heat during the first 72 hours, or so,
after an ‘acute’ injury, but when you have chronic inflammation going on for
weeks or months—Or endless, recurring flare-ups—It’s a different situation.
Look at it this way: If the inflammation process is trying to
increase the circulation to the injured tendon to help it heal—But it’s not
healing—Why not try a little heat to boost the circulation? It’s your call.
Other
Tendon Conditions Similar To Tendonitis
TENOSYNOVITIS is the inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath (called the Synovium) that surrounds and cushions the tendon.
This sheath is only present in certain areas, especially where long tendons
cross a joint and would otherwise be subject to too much friction - like in the
wrists.
STENOSING
TENOSYNOVITIS is the
progressive restriction of the sheath
(the Synovium) that surrounds and cushions the tendon, causing inflammation.
Examples are DeQuervain’s Syndrome, affecting two thumb tendons, and Trigger
Finger.
PARATENONITIS is the inflammation of just the outer layer of the tendon (paratenon) usually because of too much friction from
where the tendon crosses a joint or rubs against a bone.
TENDINITIS
is just a variation on the spelling of Tendonitis.
Another
Possibility: Tendin-O-sis—NOT Tendonitis
Recent research is strongly suggesting that many common tendon
overuse conditions are NOT inflammatory in nature, as previously assumed.
Instead, researchers are finding tendon degeneration WITHOUT
inflammation, called ‘Tendinosis.’ And the term ‘Tendinopathy’ is now being
recommended and used more often to classify these conditions, once thought to
be highly inflammatory.
Tendinosis is the degeneration of a tendon with little or no
inflammation…
BODY IN BALANCE · 21 Tamal Vista Bl,
Corte Madera, CA 94925 · 415 927-7565
To request a consultation visit: www.bodyinbalance.com/tendonitisconsult.htm
There may be microtearing in the tendon or its sheath, that should
have triggered inflammation and repair—But didn’t for some reason.
Is it because tendons have less of a blood supply than muscles
do? Could it have to do with taking too many anti-inflammatory drugs; too much
inflammation suppression?
Look at a healthy, normal tendon under a microscope and you will
see highly organized, dense, parallel bundles of bright white collagen fibers.
Tendons are composed mostly
of collagen. (So is scar tissue, by the way.)
But with Tendinosis, the tendon tissue appears disorganized,
disrupted, yellow or gray in color, thinner—Sometimes calcified— And even dead
in places.
The absence of inflammation and the presence of degeneration
means the tendon tissue is breaking down and not healing.
The collagen that makes the tendon strong and resilient is
tearing, and not being properly repaired.
This is WORSE than chronic inflammation! (If there was chronic
inflammation, at least part of the healing process would be working.)
How do you know which you have? Tendonitis or Tendinosis? The
symptoms are the same for both:
§
Burning
irritation—Or outright pain,
§
Stiffness and
tenderness,
§
And loss of
strength.
The good news is whether you have an inflamed tendon,
(Tendonitis) or a non-inflammatory Tendinosis condition, Soft Tissue Release
Therapy should help you in your recovery process.
More On How Our
Bodies Are Supposed To Heal From Soft Tissue Injuries: The Technical Details
Muscles and tendons (and other tissues, like ligaments) are all
made of bundles of highly organized fibers.
Tendons are mostly collagen, (the most common protein in the
body.) And this collagen is arranged along the length of the tendon in dense,
parallel bundles.
So what… Tissue’s
tissue right? – No—Not once you’ve injured it…
Normal tendons are made of nice, straight strands of tissue—But
when they tear, (whether all at once from a forceful strain, or little by
little from microtrauma) the scar tissue that repairs them is laid down
RANDOMLY, at first.
What’s the difference? Not much—Unless you like your tendons
strong and resilient, and want your injured tendons to be that way again once
they heal!
Tendons are made of straight, parallel fibers for a reason -
well, two big reasons, actually: STRENGTH and ELASTICITY.
What’s supposed to happen during the remodeling process is the
gradual replacement of the random, weaker, immature ‘type III’ collagen fibers
in the scar tissue…
By the mature, STRONGER ‘type I’ collagen fibers—Lined up in
the same direction with the normal tendon fibers.
It’s still scar tissue, but the idea is to transform the initial
repair into something that more closely resembles the tissue it patches, and
less like a stuck-together lump.
As discussed earlier, this process is typically quite slow,
continuing for up to a year – Sometimes even longer…
The problem is—It
often DOESN’T GET COMPLETED.
It’s bad enough that an injured tendon will never be absolutely,
100% as strong as it was before the injury…
But, without a full ‘remodeling’ of your scar tissue, your
tendon is likely to remain significantly weaker, and at high risk for
re-injury.
Here’s how the
remodeling process should work, in detail:
- The weak, ‘messy’ collagen fibers in the initial scar
tissue are gradually stressed by normal movement…
- They’re gradually broken down, and separated from each
other and the surrounding tissues they shouldn’t be adhering to…
- And the newer, stronger ‘type I’ collagen fibers are
re-laid in an organized, parallel alignment, along the tendon’s ‘lines of
stress’ making the repair stronger and more resilient.
‘Wolff’s Law’ - first promoted by Julius Wolff – is the idea
that bone and soft tissue (including muscle and tendon) will respond to the
physical stresses placed on it – causing it to remodel and realign along the
lines of tensile force, or ‘lines of stress.’
Imagine, if you will, iron filings on a piece of paper, lining
up along the lines of magnetic force, from a magnet placed beneath.
When the remodeling process stalls, the collagen fibers remain,
not only disorganized, and therefore weaker—The fibers are also left stuck to
each other excessively, called ‘Cross Linking’ and often stuck to the
surrounding tissues, called ‘Adhesions.’
(There is normally some stabilizing cross linking between fibers
in a tendon, depending on how much of a load that particular tendon must
carry—But not as much as what forms in the scar tissue.)
More
About How Soft Tissue Release Therapy Works
Soft Tissue Release rapidly speeds up the remodeling process by
applying just the right amount of ‘constructive stress’ to the scar tissue –
using finger or thumb pressure – while a stretch is simultaneously given to the
muscle.
The messy scar tissue quickly starts releasing and realigning -
It ‘falls into line’ – The line of force engaged by the stretch.
The adhesions, where the scar tissue binds inappropriately to
surrounding tissues – and the cross linkages, where it binds excessively to
itself – are gently freed up.
How it works is a lot like ironing - Bear with me, if you hate
ironing as much as I do - It’s just an analogy…
If you want to quickly iron the wrinkles out of a shirt, you
basically need three things—Three essential properties (assuming you have an
iron and the wrinkled shirt handy):
Pressure, (the weight of the iron) friction, (you have to slide
the iron over the fabric) and heat—Subtract one of these, and it becomes nearly
impossible. (Trust me on this in case you’ve never so much as picked up an
iron.)
If you want to ‘iron out’ the scar tissue ‘wrinkles’ in a muscle
or tendon—As QUICKLY as possible—You also need three essential properties,
(two of which are identical to ironing):
- PRESSURE—Held with
just the right amount of …
- FRICTION on the muscle or tendon…
- While TENSION is created by stretching the muscle.
When all three of these essential elements are applied— Simultaneously,
the scar tissue is released from sticking where it shouldn’t be and
encouraged to reshape itself in a more organized way—Like the tendon it
repairs.
When
the remodeling process is helped to reach its completion this way, you end up
with a tendon, which is:
§
Stronger,
§
More elastic or
‘springy,’
§
And free to glide
smoothly and painlessly.
Conversely, if ANY ONE of these properties is missing,
(pressure, friction and tension) you’re in for a struggle. A miserable, painful
exercise in futility—Like trying to iron without heat.
Which is precisely what you get with almost all other therapies,
conventional and alternative.
The muscle and tendon MUST be stretched, while pressure is applied
with just the right amount of tension, in order to dramatically accelerate the
remodeling process.
One common, old-school therapy method called ‘Cross Fiber
Frictioning,’ for example, involves pressure and friction to break up
scar tissue, (LOTS of pressure and friction, back and forth—In about the most
painful, annoying way possible)…
But, it neglects to stretch the muscle at the same time—It
leaves out the TENSION—Like trying to get the wrinkles out of the shirt without
moving the iron, pressing continuously on the same spot.
Pressure and friction ALONE won’t get it done. There are
literally dozens of other therapies to choose from, in addition, but they’re
slow and often painful too.
Tension by itself
isn’t enough either.
Stretching, weight training and most conditioning exercises all
generate controlled tension, which can be helpful…
But without the direct pressure and friction on the scar tissue
at the same time, it’s just not efficient enough.
And the process too often stalls or ‘plateaus,’ long before it
reaches completion.
In short, Soft Tissue Release is a breakthrough therapy, and
when you experience it, I’m sure you’ll agree.
THERAPY COMPARISON CHART
Therapies
|
Three
Critical Tendonitis Factors
|
||||||||||||
1)
Muscular
|
2)
Scar Tissue
|
3)
Chronic
|
|||||||||||
Tension+Injury
|
Inflammation
|
||||||||||||
STR
speeds
|
STR
accelerates the
|
STR
helps the
|
|||||||||||
muscular
healing
|
remodeling
phase
|
injured
tissues
|
|||||||||||
and
quickly
|
and
gently frees up
|
heal
in a stronger,
|
|||||||||||
Soft
Tissue
|
restores
normal
|
the
Adhesive Scar
|
more
lasting way.
|
||||||||||
Release
|
muscle
tone and
|
Tissue
in both the
|
Once
the injury
|
||||||||||
flexibility.
Helping
|
muscle
and the
|
heals
inflammation
|
|||||||||||
(STR)
|
the
tendon heal by
|
tendon.
Restoring
|
stops.
And there’s
|
||||||||||
taking
the excess
|
the
tendon’s
|
no
longer any need
|
|||||||||||
strain
off it.
|
strength.
|
to
fight it.
|
|||||||||||
Can
overload the
|
Can
help with the
|
May
cause further
|
|||||||||||
Physical
|
muscle
and tendon,
|
releasing
and
|
flare-ups
by
|
||||||||||
causing
further
|
remodeling
of the
|
stressing the injured
|
|||||||||||
Therapy
|
|||||||||||||
injury
and tension.
|
scar
tissue—But is
|
muscle
and tendon
|
|||||||||||
(Resistance
|
Helpful,
only IF the
|
often
inefficient—It
|
too
early, causing
|
||||||||||
training
or
|
muscle
is READY to
|
tends
to be slow and
|
re-injury
and re-
|
||||||||||
exercise
with
|
handle
an increased
|
often
leaves the
|
tearing
of the weak
|
||||||||||
load.
(If the muscle
|
process
stalled and
|
scar
tissue.
|
|||||||||||
or
without
|
|||||||||||||
is
first released of
|
incomplete.
|
||||||||||||
weights)
|
scar
tissue and
|
||||||||||||
chronic
tension.)
|
|||||||||||||
Highly
questionable
|
Anti-inflammatory
|
Does nothing for the
|
|||||||||||
usefulness
in
|
drugs
are absolutely
|
CAUSE
of the
|
|||||||||||
helping
the injured
|
useless
in helping
|
inflammation—Only
|
|||||||||||
muscle
or tendon
|
the
scar tissue
|
suppresses
the
|
|||||||||||
NSAIDs
(Non
|
heal.
May instead
|
remodeling
process.
|
SYMPTOMS
of
|
||||||||||
interfere
with
|
inflammation
and
|
||||||||||||
Steroidal
Anti
|
|||||||||||||
healing
by overly
|
pain.
May create a
|
||||||||||||
Inflammatory
|
suppressing
the
|
false
sense of
|
|||||||||||
Drugs)
|
inflammation—
|
wellness,
allowing
|
|||||||||||
Which is a necessary
|
one
to do further
|
||||||||||||
part
of the repair of
|
damage
without
|
||||||||||||
injured
muscles and
|
realizing
it at the
|
||||||||||||
tendons.
|
time.
|
||||||||||||
May
interfere with
|
Destructive
to
|
This
powerful drug
|
|||||||||||
healing
by overly
|
collagen
(found in
|
can
knock the
|
|||||||||||
suppressing the
|
both healthy tendons
|
inflammation
|
|||||||||||
inflammation—A
|
and
the scar tissue
|
process
out almost
|
|||||||||||
Cortisone
|
necessary
part of
|
that
repairs them)
|
completely—But
like
|
||||||||||
the
repair of injured
|
The
collagen in the
|
other
types of anti-
|
|||||||||||
muscles and
|
scar tissue needs to
|
inflammatories, it
|
|||||||||||
tendons.
Does not
|
be
STRENGTHEND,
|
only
stifles the
|
|||||||||||
release
chronic
|
NOT
disrupted and
|
symptoms
|
|||||||||||
muscular
tension.
|
weakened!
|
temporarily.
|
|||||||||||
Ice does not help
|
Ice is of no use what
|
Ice may aid the
|
|||||||||||
release
chronic
|
so
ever in dealing
|
healing
process by
|
|||||||||||
muscular
tension.
|
with
scar tissue.
|
keeping
any
|
|||||||||||
Icing
|
swelling
caused by
|
||||||||||||
inflammation
down
|
|||||||||||||
during
the initial
|
|||||||||||||
stage of healing.
|
|||||||||||||
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