Dr Xand's tips for tendonitis

Tendonitis is a condition which affects hundreds of thousands of people in the UK.

It's commonly known as 'Tennis Elbow' but you don't need to play tennis to get it.

Tendonitis, or tendinopathy, is when a tendon swells or becomes 'inflamed' after an injury.

There are four places where we see it most often: the elbow, Achilles, knees, and shoulders.

Tennis elbow is a result of excessive strain and repetition in wrist extensor tendons, causes irritating and often quite debilitating pain around the lateral side of the elbow (think a "back-hand" movement).

Golfer's elbow is the same, but on the opposite side of the elbow, from strain in wrist flexor tendons.

We get Achilles tendonitis from pushing off and lunging. Very common movement in sports like squash or padel, also common to get from running

And Patellar tendonitis is often caused by squatting, jumping and lunging movements.

If you're doing sport, warming up is really important. As is not taking on too much too quickly - if you're new to a sport, play like it! But you can get tendonitis in day-to-day life as well.

This is particularly true as we get older.

Our tendons start to lose some of their elasticity and strength, making us more susceptible to injuring them with sudden or repetitive movements.

But if you do injure a tendon, exercises tend to be the best way to tend to it!

Here, external are some exercises you can follow for tennis elbow.

Here, external are some exercises for golfer's elbow.

Here, external are some exercises for Achilles tendonitis.

Here, external are some exercises for patellar tendonitis.

If it's a mild strain, the NHS says it should start to feel better in 2-3 weeks with exercise but contact your GP if there's any doubt!