Tendinopathy: Why the Difference Between Tendinitis and Tendinosis Matters

Think tendinitis and you think pain and burning in the affected area, decreased strength and flexibility, and pain caused by everyday activities. As it turns out, tendinosis is far more often responsible for these symptoms than tendinitis (1,2,3). It is important for health care practitioners to distinguish between these disorders in order to apply the most appropriate treatment. Tendinitis is the inflammation of the tendon and results from micro-tears that happen when the musculotendinous unit is acutely overloaded with a tensile force that is too heavy and/or too sudden. Tendinitis is still a very common diagnosis, though research increasingly documents that what is thought to be tendinitis is usually tendinosis (1,2,3,4,5).