What's New

I've not been able to update this site much since I created it in 2002, but I use this page to post a few brief updates on new research, statistics, and information about tendinosis. Let me know if you have some information you think I should add. I can't promise to add all your suggestions, but I'll try to include things that may help people.

Please note that tendinosis.org does not endorse any particlar product, treatment, or website. Tendinosis.org is strictly a site to provide information about tendinosis and to encourage research into the etiology and treatment of tendinosis.

1/28/12: Stem Cell Treatments in Horses, and People to Follow

Someone sent me these links to very interesting research using stem cell therapy to treat tendon injuries in horses: Stem-Cell Therapy Works Wonders for Race Horses; Are Human Treatments Next? and UK Stem Cell Company Cures Race Horse Tendons, Humans Next.

1/8/12: Laser Therapy

Someone sent me this link so I thought I'd pass it on, but you'll need to do some of your own research on this. A company in Canada is selling low intensity laser devices for treating soft tissue injuries and other problems, both for people and for veterinary work. If you'd like to look into it this is the link: Bioflex Laser.

6/23/11: Website and Treatment for Chronic Injuries

I still don't have time to do the full update this site needs, but I wanted to mention a treatment that seems to be gaining in popularity. Several methods are being offered to manually break up adhesions to stimulate healing and promote tissue remodeling. This idea isn't new since physical therapists have been trying various methods to stimulate tissue remodeling for many years, but now there are a number of hands-on approaches that are formalized with acronyms and taught to practitioners following certain protocols.

One such treatment is described at this site called Destroy Chronic Pain. Dr. Russell Schierling wrote to let me know about his success with many patients, and I wanted to post the link here. His site gives a lot of helpful information about the tendinosis injury. His treatment is more likely to help those with a specific injury to one location rather than to someone with a propensity for chronic tendon trouble in multiple areas. I would not be a good candidate for this type of treatment so I have not tried it and can't give personal experience. If you want more information you could contact him.

The treatment involves a hands-on session (or more likely several sessions a number of weeks apart) followed by a recovery phase during which the patient performs stretching exercises to help the healing process. The patient is also encouraged to make healthy dietary changes and consider taking supplements such as fish oil. The page on bruising looks scary to me, but the testimonial page shows many people have been helped. I think the site has useful information even if you are not a candidate for the treatment, so I hope the link is helpful.

Another treatment in this category is called the Graston technique. I know I've seen another major hands-on technique like this as well and will try to find the link...

8/19/09: Interesting Article Today in NYT

An injured runner describes his treatment with blood injections and PT: One Injured Hamstring, a String of Treatments.

8/2/09: Update on Fluoroquinolone Induced Tendon Injuries

Many people have written to tell me about a form of chronic tendon injury caused by taking antibiotic drugs in the fluoroquinolone family, such as Cipro. After taking these drugs people can have serious tendon injuries and ruptures that are a direct result of the drugs. Doctors now know this is a risk of taking these drugs but not all patients are adequately warned to understand the risks before deciding whether to take the drug or look for an alternative antibiotic. If you've been harmed by one of these drugs you can do some web searches and you'll find organizations such as this one: The Fluoroquinolone Research Foundation.

2/16/09: Update on Platlet-Rich Plasma Therapy

Here's a New York Times article on platlet-rich plasma therapy: NYT article "Athletes� Own Blood Could Nurse Them to Health"

6/5/08: Update

Here's an interesting link: study on MMP-23

I've had some people write to say they think prolotherapy helps; if you have studies you'd like referenced here on that (or on other treatments), let me know and I'll see what I can do.

8/10/07: Update with a few Links

7/14/07: Update on Stem Cell Research

5/17/07: Update on Prolotherapy and Platlet-Rich Plasma Therapy

The two therapies people ask about most are prolotherapy and platelet-rich plasma injections. I've not seen good evidence for benefits of prolotherapy, and just as many people write me to tell me it made them worse as those who say it helped. I view prolotherapy as risky given the high rate of flare-ups it causes and the lack of good studies on it -- I hope we'll have more research done. The platelet-rich plasma injections look promising though, and I'll try to post some links to more info.

4/13/05: Update

I've been taking a break from the website for a while, but I'll be adding some new information and making some updates when I can. I moved in 2004 and am moving again in 6 weeks, so I've been really busy and haven't been able to edit the site. I will get back to it after this next (and last) move though. Check back occasionally. I try to answer emails if you have a question I can answer. The site averages around 100 visits daily. One of the areas of interest to many people is prolotherapy, and I'll be looking into that more. I wish you all the best with your healing!

4/02/03: Happy Anniversary to Tendinosis.org!

The tendinosis.org website has now been up for one year. The site is getting an average of 60 visitors a day, although the exact count varies. Most people find the site with the Google search engine. I hope the information here is helpful to people!

10/01/02: Sonocur Shockwave Therapy

A new tendinosis treatment, Sonocur shockwave therapy, is now available in a number of clinics around the United States. The Sonocur shockwave device delivers sound shockwaves to a very focused area of the tendon. The therapy was approved in July 2002 by the FDA for tennis elbow, but it is being used for many other kinds of tendinosis as well (including heel, shoulder, and knee). A clinical trial found Sonocur therapy can help chronic tendinosis in some people who haven't been helped by other treatments. Sonocur treatment is very new and not much research is available yet on its effectiveness. Also see the www.sonorex.com website.

6/13/02: Site Search

This site now has a search feature so you can easily search the website for any keywords you want to find. To get to the search page, just choose Search This Site from the navigation bar on the left side of any page.

5/14/02: Computer Injury Study

In a new study on computer-related RSI injuries, researchers followed over 600 newly hired employees who used computers at least 15 hours per week on the job. Over 3 years, the study found many more injuries than expected. See Computer-Related Injuries for details.