Cautiously, Alex returned to running after a few weeks but slowed the pace and cut the distance. To her frustration, the Achilles flared up again, much sooner than what it ever had before! Confused, Alex rested more, waiting for the pain to vanish and even gave it a few days extra before slowly trying again. The same pattern kept repeating, each attempt at running led to another setback, until Alex could barely jog around the block without pain.
This wasn’t just happening to Alex. Mark, a cyclist, battled persistent IT band pain that reappeared every time he upped his mileage, no matter how slowly he progressed the Cradle loop kept causing enough pain to have him sit out for several weeks. And then there was Sarah, a padel player whose elbow throbbed whenever she swung a racket, despite taking weeks off between matches. All of them were trapped in the same cycle: hurt, rest, repeat. Each one believed that pain is the enemy. Each one theorised that they had done too much damage already, that rest is no longer enough and that they would have to stop the activity that brought them such joy for so long.
That was until they learnt the truth:
- Tendons don’t heal on rest alone.
- A happy tendon isn’t one that’s been coddled into silence or beaten into submission.
- Happy tendons are steadily conditioned through a gradual exposure to load.
- Tendon recovery can’t be monitored through fading pain levels.
- Medicating the pain while mindlessly pushing on will surely result in a retaliation.
- Building function amidst discomfort or relative pain is the unexpected sweet-spot required to turn a tendon’s declining attitude around.
Take Alex’s comeback: after months of consistent, progressive loading, she could run 8km with the same 3/10 pain that once plagued her within the first 2km. The maximum pain level hadn’t changed, but her capacity had—and that was real progress. She now didn’t even have pain for the initial 6km. Mark’s IT band stopped rebelling when he built tendon resilience with targeted strength and endurance work between Cradle visits. And Sarah’s elbow tolerated longer matches once she stopped fearing every twinge and focused on controlled rehab during practice sessions and on her off-days.
The lesson?
- Tendinopathy is a marathon, not a sprint.
- Solving a tendon crisis is not about rest or avoiding pain.
- Avoiding further damage during activity actually fuels the problem.
- It’s also not about fancy and expensive physio machines, or even surgical visits.
- Pain will ebb and flow, but the goal is to train smarter and increase the tendon capacity through continued and gradually progressive exposure.
- Resting a tendon or stopping completely is counterproductive as it reduces the tendon’s capacity for function.
It’s about the tendon outgrowing its limitation, needing only:
- Guidance from someone who understands how tendons work and
- Perseverance from you.
It’s never too late so whenever you’re ready, let’s take this on.
Your health and wellbeing deserve informed, personalised care. For tailored support, please discuss any questions or concerns with your physiotherapist of choice.