Tendons adapt. Load them right, and they heal. Structured, evidence-based recovery programs for Achilles, patellar, rotator cuff, tennis elbow, gluteal, and hamstring tendinopathy.
Modern tendinopathy care moves you through four stages — each with a specific role, dose, and progression criteria. No magic, no passive fixes. Just the right load at the right time.
Static holds that quiet pain and restore load tolerance. Used when the tendon is grumpy, in-season, or early in rehab.
Controlled, heavy loading with a slow tempo. Rebuilds tendon stiffness and strength — the real driver of long-term recovery.
Plyometric and stretch-shortening work. Prepares the tendon for the high-rate loading of running, jumping, cutting.
Graded reintroduction to training load, then competition. Maintenance loading continues indefinitely — tendons keep what you train.
Tendinopathy is slow — but predictable. An assessment, a program tailored to your tendon and your life, and regular check-ins to progress or regress the load as you respond. You stay active while you heal.
Midportion & insertional — they're treated differently. We know the difference.
"Jumper's knee" for runners, lifters, and anyone whose knees hurt on stairs.
Shoulder pain with overhead reaching, sleeping on your side, lifting a kettle.
"Tennis elbow" — even if you've never touched a racquet. Grip, type, carry hurts.
Pain on the outside of the hip, worse lying on that side or crossing your legs.
Deep buttock pain that worsens with sitting, driving, or running hills.
Tendons respond to mechanical load. Prolonged rest de-conditions them and extends recovery. You'll train, not avoid.
Using Silbernagel's pain-monitoring model, pain up to 5/10 during exercise is acceptable if it settles by the next morning. We teach you how to read your own tendon.
Heavy Slow Resistance matches or beats eccentric-only programs, with better adherence and better carryover to sport.
Tendon changes on ultrasound or MRI don't predict pain or outcome. The program is driven by your function and response, not your scan.
Registered Massage Therapist with 20+ years in practice and a focused clinical interest in tendinopathy and hypermobility. Founder of MovementSpark and the Integrative Movement Therapy (IMT) framework; currently treating at 4 Points Health in Edmonton.
Tendinopathy.ca is the concentrated version of that work — a structured, evidence-based program for patients who want a plan that actually gets them back to what they love doing.
Most tendinopathies resolve with structured loading. Realistic timelines: patellar and Achilles, 3–6 months of consistent work; lateral elbow, often improves in 6–12 months; proximal hamstring, 3–6 months. Think in months, not weeks. Consistency beats intensity.
Almost never as a first step. Cortisone relieves pain short-term but is associated with worse long-term outcomes. Surgery is reserved for specific, rare scenarios. Load is the first and best intervention.
In most cases, yes — at a modified dose. We use a pain-monitoring model so you can keep training while the tendon rebuilds. Total rest often makes things worse.
Because tendons need load to remodel. Without mechanical stimulus, they get weaker and more pain-sensitive over time. Rest is a pause, not a plan.
Usually not. Imaging findings correlate poorly with pain or outcome. Plenty of people have tendon changes on scan and no pain. The plan is driven by how the tendon responds to load, not by pixels.
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