Tendinopathy refers to a condition which causes chronic tendon pain and impaired performance of tendons. It is a type of tendon injury, usually caused by overuse of the tendon without leading to rupture or tearing of the tendon. In the past the condition was referred to as ‘tendonitis’ as there is usually associated inflammation in the tendon.
Tendinopathies are particularly common in athletes due to high training demands and training loads repetitively placed on tendons. Tendinopathies are notoriously difficult conditions to treat due to tendons having slow healing times and there are often multiple factors involved which need to be identified. Rehabilitation often has poor outcomes, largely due to a lack of knowledge of the evidence-base by treating clinicians. We often see patients at our clinic with tendinopathies who have seen multiple therapists and failed to make progress, due to poorly structured rehabilitation.
We take a comprehensive approach to managing tendinopathies, leaving no stone unturned and utilising the best available evidence-based treatments including specialist tendon loading exercises, training load modification and shockwave therapy.
Dr Ian Burton has published extensively on the rehabilitation of tendinopathies, and is a world leading expert in this area, ranked in the top 0.5% of experts globally by expertscape, and is the only world expert physiotherapist based in Scotland.
Prior to forming Burton Physiotherapy, he set up and led a specialist tendinopathy clinic for NHS Grampian, dealing with the most difficult cases throughout the whole of Aberdeenshire that had not improved with prior treatment.
