Tendinitis

You need rest and stretching. Though I would strongly suggest seeing a physio (usually called "Physical Therapists" in the US).

It is important to try and establish the exact reason for the tendonitis developing in the first place so this can be addressed accordingly.

PROPER stretching.

NEVER stretch a cold muscle.

Do not do anything that hurts. With tendonitis, any pain is your body saying "hey bud, you're making it WORSE!"

If that means you don't play guitar for a couple months, that's what it means.

I have a history of tendonitis in my ankles, and I can tell you that if you don't let it heal completely, it will get worse. And trust me, tendon surgery is not where you want to go wtih this!

Physical therapy can be a great help in severe cases, but most even moderate inflammations can be handled by simple home treatment -- ice, rest, anti-inflammatories and self-control.

Physical therapy can be a great help in severe cases, but most even moderate inflammations can be handled by simple home treatment -- ice, rest, anti-inflammatories and self-control.
I'll have to disagree somewhat with you here, King. Too often people leave things until it becomes severe. It is much more prudent to seek advice early on in the piece to nip it in the bud. If things are not addressed appropriately, and early on, then the risk of recurring episodes increases somewhat.

Also, a lot of so-called tendonitis injuries are not caused by something local to the site of the injury. It can often be further up or down the anatomical chain and can involve more than just muscles (ie. neural tissue, joint mobility etc). And often the site causing the problem can often be non-symptomatic.

So whilst home treatment with ice, rest, anti-inflammatories etc are not a bad thing, they often do not address the real issue at hand. Of course, if the tendonitis is purely due to overuse (excessive overuse) then your suggestion has definite merit.

I'm a physiotherapist by trade and while I'm not sure how physical therapists operate in the US, I can say that general practitioners, or medical doctors, often glaze over these types of injuries and just advise the rest and anti-inflammatories path.

i'm a physical therapist also so i recommend physical therapy for this. in the US you'll need a prescription from your doctor to go to one (depending on which state you live in). a physical therapist can do the stretching correctly and recommend the types of exercises you need to do. he/she can also determine if the pain is coming from another area of your arm and help you to prevent recurrences.

In addition to (or instead of) anti-inflammatory drugs, there are several vitamins and herbs to consider:

omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids fish and flax/borage oils lubricate the joints and they are very anti-inflammatory. I like Udo's Oil, which is sold by Udo Erasmus, author of Oils that Heal. Udo's and other oils can be found in the fridge of your local health food store.

Protein is important for rebuilding everything in the body. Consider adding a high-quality protein powder once a day. I like to use MediClear by Thorne.com, which is designed as an anti-inflammatory powder. Designer Protein is also pretty good and available at health food stores.

Curcumin or Tumeric is an Indian spice noted for its anti-inflammatory properties. Around 1 gram per day is a good dose.

Ben Gay is good and there are some professional products that have better ingredients, such as Joint Gel by Integrative Therapeutics.
I also recommend PhytoProfen by Thorne.com

Don't forget the old standards: plenty of rest, exercise, fresh air and sunlight, and a good diet.

Taking a break from playing guitar while you heal might be a good idea, especially during a flare-up. Massaging the area yourself definitely helps. I've seen a lot of great tips from Guitar Principles that involve becomming aware of and releasing tension while you play.

Dr. Ron
http://www.naturdoctor.com/Chapters/Diseases/Tendinitis.html

Aye, thanks ya'll. This isn't it's first appearance actually, and not the first joint problem I've had either. I've had problems with my knee's too, and occasionally hip, for a few years. The wrist started last summer when I developed CT during an unholy stint of Everquest 2. Then reoccurred a few times while I took up drawing. The most recent bout, ironically, developed when I was trying to get in shape and started swimming everyday. That was a few weeks ago, and the doctor gave me Celebrex, which I don't think has done anything, and told me to come back in about a week from now.
It doesn't hurt too much right now, but it's constantly stiff, and my knee's have been acting up again too, now. Plus my left wrist has started to hurt because I use it for the mouse now.
I actually tried to stop playing guitar and my wrist got a lot worse. I don't know why. I guess it started "popping" more and just kept getting stiffer and hurting. At least that's what I theorized was happening. So I'm trying to play for about thirty minutes a day now to see if it helps. Plus, if I don't do anything, the pain is all I think about. Which sucks.
Annoyingly enough, the swimming is what was finally helping my knees, and that's what killed my wrist.
OYE!!!

Cool to have so many physical therapists here though.

In addition to (or instead of) anti-inflammatory drugs, there are several vitamins and herbs to consider:

omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids fish and flax/borage oils lubricate the joints and they are very anti-inflammatory. I like Udo's Oil, which is sold by Udo Erasmus, author of Oils that Heal. Udo's and other oils can be found in the fridge of your local health food store.

Protein is important for rebuilding everything in the body. Consider adding a high-quality protein powder once a day. I like to use MediClear by Thorne.com, which is designed as an anti-inflammatory powder. Designer Protein is also pretty good and available at health food stores.

Curcumin or Tumeric is an Indian spice noted for its anti-inflammatory properties. Around 1 gram per day is a good dose.

Ben Gay is good and there are some professional products that have better ingredients, such as Joint Gel by Integrative Therapeutics.
I also recommend PhytoProfen by Thorne.com

Don't forget the old standards: plenty of rest, exercise, fresh air and sunlight, and a good diet.

Taking a break from playing guitar while you heal might be a good idea, especially during a flare-up. Massaging the area yourself definitely helps. I've seen a lot of great tips from Guitar Principles that involve becomming aware of and releasing tension while you play.

Dr. Ron
http://www.naturdoctor.com

Thanks. I'll try some of these. I have bengay, I use it farther up my arm to ease the connecting muscles and junk. I put if on and then massage the area for about 15 minutes. It usually works, but only for about an hour or so, and I've become really tired of temporary solutions, because they always make you obsess about the problem. At least they do me.
I have protein, I'll try to use it more, and I'll try acids and the spices sound good.
Thanks!!!

I have tendonitus in my right shoulder. Glucosamine was recommended to me and it has really helped not just my shoulder but also my knees..

I tried glucosamine, and it didn't do much for me when I took it, but when I stopped I was in pain everywhere. I think it started to replace something my body was making, and then my body stopped when taking the suppliment. That sucked.
Plus it's like 22 dollars for a 15 day supply. I ain't got that kinda money.

Physical therapy can be a great help in severe cases, but most even moderate inflammations can be handled by simple home treatment -- ice, rest, anti-inflammatories and self-control.
I'll have to disagree somewhat with you here, King. Too often people leave things until it becomes severe. It is much more prudent to seek advice early on in the piece to nip it in the bud. If things are not addressed appropriately, and early on, then the risk of recurring episodes increases somewhat.

I'm not saying don't seek medical advice.

I'm saying that it may not be necessary to have professional physical therapy to treat mild to moderate tendonitis. I absolutely agree that you should be evaluated by a qualified physician.

But don't jump immediately to demanding physical therapy for treatment (a lot of doctors will prescribe it even when it's not medically indicated simply because they don't want to later be said to have not taken it seriously -- this is particularly true with patients on either end of the age spectrum who as a rule are least likely to follow physician's directives.

I'm not saying don't seek medical advice.

I'm saying that it may not be necessary to have professional physical therapy to treat mild to moderate tendonitis. I absolutely agree that you should be evaluated by a qualified physician.
And this is the point I'm trying to make: seek advice.

I'm not sure what role you believe physios play in the health care arena but believe me we are not there to treat only severe cases. 80% of my clients would be considered mild to moderate; and that's how it should be. Easier to fix earlier on and to get patients on a preventative maintanence program that they can do on their own. What's the old saying, prevention is better than the cure? ;)
But don't jump immediately to demanding physical therapy for treatment
It wasn't a 'demand' but rather a mere suggestion. And honestly I don't really care whether it be physio or another discipline. I'm obviously going to be biased, but the key is to seek professional advice.

Either way, like you said yourself, you don't want to end up having surgery to fix a problem that early on is easily reparable/preventable. :)

So, what exercises would physical therapists usually recommend for tendinitis?

So, what exercises would physical therapists usually recommend for tendinitis?
It really depends on what is causing the tendonitis in the first place.

Having said that though, some basic regular wrist stretches won't go astray. Particularly stretches that target the forearm muscles.

So to stretch the right side, just hold the right arm out straight in front of you then with the left hand grasp the right hand and bend it back down towards the floor. Bending your right elbow slightly will reduce the stretch and straightening will increase it. Just do about ten holding each stretch for about 5 seconds or so. But BE GENTLE. Don't push into pain, particularly if you're feeling the pain at the site of your tendonitis.

You can also do the opposite stretch by bending your hand up toward the ceiling. This isn't the typical way of doing this stretch, but for simplicity's sake it will do. Normally the arm is down in front of the body and sort of crossed over to the opposite hip. The wrist is then bent back into a sort of "waiter's tip" position.

The key is to do these regularly through the day and GENTLY. It's even more important if you're spending a lot of time at, say, a PC.

Anyhoo, I stress, these are just general basic exercises, more designed for prevention than anything else. And if you feel pain or worsening from these exercises, STOP and seek further ADVICE.

Oh, and also take Kingpatzer's advice re ice, rest and anti-inflammatories (if the pain/discomfort is a problem). This will help maintain the inflammation and local issues, though again, if there is some other issue causing the problem this will need to be addressed.

Cheers. :)

Physical therapy can be a great help in severe cases, but most even moderate inflammations can be handled by simple home treatment -- ice, rest, anti-inflammatories and self-control.
I'll have to disagree somewhat with you here, King. Too often people leave things until it becomes severe. It is much more prudent to seek advice early on in the piece to nip it in the bud. If things are not addressed appropriately, and early on, then the risk of recurring episodes increases somewhat.

I'm not saying don't seek medical advice.

I'm saying that it may not be necessary to have professional physical therapy to treat mild to moderate tendonitis. I absolutely agree that you should be evaluated by a qualified physician.

But don't jump immediately to demanding physical therapy for treatment (a lot of doctors will prescribe it even when it's not medically indicated simply because they don't want to later be said to have not taken it seriously -- this is particularly true with patients on either end of the age spectrum who as a rule are least likely to follow physician's directives.
as i said i'm a physical therapist so i may be biased but since above quote was written what we've found out is that this is a recurring problem and that carpal tunnel syndrome is involved. so i continue to recommend physical therapy. to tell someone what exercises to do over the internet isn't much good because every case individual.

and just as an aside, i don't know where the idea that people from either end of the age spectrum are least likely to follow a doctor's advice, is coming from. i work with the elderly population and haven't noticed this in particular and i've never read any study concerning this idea. not saying it isn't true...just wondering about it.