Tendonitis and tenosynovitis are types of tendon injury. They can often occur together. The most common cause is overuse of the affected tendon. Rest of the affected tendon may be all that is required in some cases. Other treatments include pain relief, physiotherapy and steroid injections.

What are tendons and tendon sheaths?

A tendon is a strong tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone. For example, the tendons that you can see on the back of your hand come from muscles in your forearm and allow you to move the bones of your fingers.

Some (but not all) tendons are covered by a sheath called the synovium. The synovium makes a tiny amount of oily fluid which lies between the tendon and its overlying sheath. The fluid helps the tendon to move freely and smoothly when it pulls on the bone it is attached to.

What are tendonitis and tenosynovitis and what causes them?

Tendonitis and tenosynovitis are types of tendon injury. They can often occur together. Strictly speaking:

Tendonitis means inflammation of a tendon. The term tendonitis is usually used for tendon injuries that involve acute injuries accompanied by inflammation.
Tendinosis means chronic degeneration of a tendon without inflammation. The main problem is failed healing of repeated minor injuries rather than inflammation.
Tendinopathy is a more general term than tendonitis and tendinosis and just means tendon injury, without specifying the type of injury.
Tenosynovitis means inflammation of the sheath that surrounds a tendon. (The sheath is called the synovium).

It is thought that inflammation of the tendon and the tendon sheath is not the whole picture in all cases. It is thought that most of the time there is an injury, or several repeated small injuries or tears, to the tendon. This may initially cause some inflammation of the tendon. But, in the longer term, if these injuries continue, it can lead to tendon damage (degeneration). Some doctors feel that tendonitis and tenosynovitis should actually be called tendinosis or tendinopathy.

These injuries typically occur when tendons are overused. For example, this may be after playing a lot of sport, or overuse in the course of your work. (Tenosynovitis commonly occurs around the wrist. Overuse by lots of writing, typing, assembly line work, etc, can trigger inflammation. This type of overuse tendon injury is also known as repetitive strain injury (RSI).

However, in some cases, there is no history of overuse of the tendon, and tendonitis or tenosynovitis seem to occur for no apparent reason. There are also some other causes of tendonitis and tenosynovitis:

Arthritis – some types of arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis can sometimes cause inflammation of tendon sheaths as well as joints. You would normally have joint pains and swelling in addition to tendon problems.

Infection – this is a rare cause. The infection may occur because a cut or puncture wound to the skin over a tendon may allow germs (bacteria) to get in to infect the tendon and/or tendon sheath. However, infection sometimes spreads from other parts of the body via the bloodstream to infect a tendon sheath. For example, a small number of people who have gonorrhoea (a sexually transmitted infection) develop tenosynovitis as a complication.

Who gets tendonitis and tenosynovitis?

These problems are more common in middle-aged adults, and particularly in people who are quite sporty. They may be more common if your work involves repetitive movements such as writing, typing or use of a computer mouse.

What are the symptoms of tendonitis and tenosynovitis?

Tendonitis usually occurs at the part of the tendon that attaches to the bone. The main symptoms are pain, tenderness and sometimes swelling of the affected part of the tendon. The pain is typically when you move the affected area. The overlying skin in that area may also feel warm. You may have reduced movement or weakness of the part of the body that is pulled by the affected tendon. The area may feel stiff. In some cases the condition lasts just a few days and then goes away on its own. In other cases it can last weeks or months if not treated.

Any tendon of your body may be affected. However, some areas of your body are more prone to these problems. For example, tendons around your wrist and hand are the most commonly affected. Some types of tendonitis and tenosynovitis cause very characteristic symptoms and have their own name. For example:

De Quervain’s tenosynovitis. This is a common condition that affects the tendons that are used to straighten (extend) your thumb. The typical symptom is pain over your wrist at the base of your thumb that is made worse by activity and eased by rest.
Trigger finger. This most commonly affects your ring finger. The condition prevents your finger from straightening fully. (See separate leaflet called Trigger Finger for more details.)
Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). In this condition, you have pain on the outer side of your elbow. It is usually due to overuse of your forearm muscles. (See separate leaflet called Tennis Elbow for more details.)

Golfer’s elbow (medial epicondylitis). This is similar to tennis elbow but the pain is experienced on the inner side of your elbow.

Achilles tendonitis. This affects the large tendon just behind and above the heel. (See separate leaflet called Achilles Tendinopathy for more details.)

Rotator cuff tendonitis. Your rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that help to lift and rotate your shoulder. The tendons from these muscles can sometimes become irritated due to overuse. (See separate leaflet called Rotator Cuff Injury and Inflammation for more details.)

If you think you may have any of these Tendon problems, then get in touch and we can start to treat the problem with a number of different methods. Dont delay, get it sorted sooner rather than later.