Originally Posted by
JimmyA
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here: Tendonitis is the initial flare up. Tendonosis is the long-term damage. I was diagnosed with tendonosis a few years back. On the suggestion of my PT and Doctor, I tried eccentric leg exercises on a foam ramp (toes pointing down). My PT also taught me cross friction massage for the tendon, which is pretty painful. Finally, if I though it was flaring up (the tendonitis) I used ice immediately after a ride. Most important for me was treating my treatment like I did my training. Never cutting it short or skipping out. (Actually, if I trained the way I treated I'd probably be faster this year
) I would bring ice in a cooler with me if I was travelling with the bike to a training ride or race. I also took, and continue to take, fish oil supplements.
I think the biggest challenge was ramping up the miles slowly. After the injury I could only ride five miles or so. I would feel good and want to go further, but held to the 10% rule that is stated all the time. I also tried to make sure my knee was warm, wearing knee warmers when no one else was, and when I really didn't want to. Unless I'm warming up on a trainer ahead of time, knee warmers are on below 65 degrees for me. No exceptions. In about 6 months I was back to pretty regular training. Now I'm on to my first full season of racing and I've been ok so far.
Sorry for the long post.
Jimmy
Jimmy is absolutely right - you need to approach the treatment just as vigorously as a training plan. Tendonitis in general can be treated and healed by constant stretching, icing, and slow progression up the intensity scale. I have tendonitis and will stretch 3 times a day and try to ice once every 2-3 hours for 10-15mins. This reduces the inflammation and speeds healing. Don't do activities that aggravate your condition; that said, you can't really just rest and expect to get better. You need to be doing some sort of stretching to beat tendonitis, and usually a warm-up is required before stretching. So take it easy, do small things, and you need to gradually increase your training over time. If you keep at it, it will get better.