Reactive | Degenerative | |
Symptom | Acute onset of symptoms, slow to settle down | Chronic long history of symptoms |
Age | 15-25 | 30-60 |
Time | 2-6 weeks | 3-6 months |
Physio management | Massage, orthotics, Dry needling etc. | Progressive load |
Treatment | Unload and reload | Load,- Heavy and slow |
- Depending on the type of injury, we need to work together to establish the best management strategies for rehab
- Acute reactive tendons may need to be unloaded prior to reloading
- Chronic degenerative tendons can take months to heal fully
- As a degenerative tendon develops the architecture of the collagen fibres becomes disorganised. Through loading appropriately we can enable the tendon to be able to adapt to required loading and therefore allowing return to sport.