Tendon issues?

[Scout]

I’ve struggled a bit with tendinopathies for the past 15 years. Mostly medial/lateral epicondylitis (golfers/tennis elbow) I’ve had a case of golfers elbow that’s lasted 7 years now that never really went away after PT, steroid injections (not recommended any longer), dry needling, autologous blood injections, etc. I’ve been reading about a procedure called a percutaneous tenotomy with the name brand of this particular device being called Tenex. It’s newer tech (kind of…been around > 10 years) and many of the Ortho docs haven’t fully embraced the technology. To be fair many of the studies have been industry sponsored and weak at that. However, I was willing to try just about anything. The procedure makes sense, instead of an open surgery with a long recovery time a needle is inserted under ultrasound guidance to the diseased portion and then high frequency ultrasound waves are used at a specific frequency to only emulsify the diseased tendon leaving good tendon intact (actually adopted the tech from cataract surgery). At the same time the needle irrigates with saline suctioning up the debris.
I had this done five weeks ago and so now have close to zero pain (except residual incisional pain) and I’m having to hold myself back while working out to not push too hard too early.
Anyways, I’m very pleased so far and just wanted to share my experience with you in case you also have similar issues. they’re using it on plantar fasciitis, Achilles, rotator cuff, patellar, elbow, etc. My insurance wouldn’t cover it (Highmark Blue Cross :-/) as they called it experimental.
Good luck!

 

[sengsational]

Thanks for sharing your experience with percutaneous tenotomy. I'd never heard of it before, but I've had ongoing golfers/tennis elbows on and off. I read something a while back about an imbalance in vitamins, like B and D might make it worse. And now that lots more people are taking D for Covid, I wonder if the tendon issues will become more prevalent. Anyway, I'm not to the point of "going under the needle", but at some point I might investigate.

 

[braumeister]

I understand completely. At one point about 20 years ago I had what was actually diagnosed as a combination of lateral and medial epicondylitis (both golfer's elbow and tennis elbow). I knew exactly how I got it, but it was job-related and I had no choice in the matter. The pain was so bad I couldn't even take a carton of milk out of the refrigerator, but fortunately I only had it in one arm so I could cope with daily life.

Went through a whole range of different treatments over many months, just like you, and the one that helped the most was iontophoresis (using electrical current to drive medication into the arm). In my case all the treatment was covered since it was job-related.

It finally sank into my thick skull that the only way I was ever going to get over it was to stop doing what caused it, so I decided to retire. My problem cleared up within about six months and has never returned. Here's hoping you get permanent relief as well.

 

[Scout]

Thanks for sharing your experience with percutaneous tenotomy. I'd never heard of it before, but I've had ongoing golfers/tennis elbows on and off. I read something a while back about an imbalance in vitamins, like B and D might make it worse. And now that lots more people are taking D for Covid, I wonder if the tendon issues will become more prevalent. Anyway, I'm not to the point of "going under the needle", but at some point I might investigate.

It’s funny you mention the vitamin deficiency. Several years back I took high dose vitamin d for several months for a different tendon with success. It didn’t help with this one. To be fair this current one was from an old acute injury and not from repetitive movements which may change things a bit.

 

[Scout]

I understand completely. At one point about 20 years ago I had what was actually diagnosed as a combination of lateral and medial epicondylitis (both golfer's elbow and tennis elbow). I knew exactly how I got it, but it was job-related and I had no choice in the matter. The pain was so bad I couldn't even take a carton of milk out of the refrigerator, but fortunately I only had it in one arm so I could cope with daily life.



Went through a whole range of different treatments over many months, just like you, and the one that helped the most was iontophoresis (using electrical current to drive medication into the arm). In my case all the treatment was covered since it was job-related.



It finally sank into my thick skull that the only way I was ever going to get over it was to stop doing what caused it, so I decided to retire. My problem cleared up within about six months and has never returned. Here's hoping you get permanent relief as well.

Thanks for that. I never tried iontophoresis, but if there’s a next time :-/ I will!

 

[RetiredHappy]

I have tennis and golfers elbows, first in my right elbow and 2 years later in my left elbow. The first ortho for right elbow did a steroid shot and sent me home. It felt good for a month and the pain came back but the pain gradually got better over a year. I wear an elbow sleeve each time I golf.

With the left elbow, I went to a different ortho who gave me a shot but then sent me to PT. The left elbow was pretty severe but the best thing that I got out of the PT is that TENS really helped. I bought one from Amazon and used that thing everyday for about a year on my left elbow. I now wear elbow sleeves when I golf to provide additional support. Once in a while if I feel a bit of strain in my elbow, I use TENS and the relief is instantaneous. The best part is that it is not a temporary fix as it actually heals the elbows. My husband uses it on his hip and back, and so do 2 of our friends.