- You have to live with constant pain
- Tendonitis doesn’t get better
- Tendonitis always needs rest and ice
- Tendonitis is usually from overloading the tendon
- The only thing you can do is take pain medication
- Living with hand osteoarthritis means accepting limited hand mobility and deformity
You don’t have to live with constant pain.
Learning to properly manage OA flare-ups will allow you to have periods of time, often days, weeks, or even months without resting pain.
Tendonitis doesn’t get better.
We find that the majority of tendonitis does in fact improve and resolve. It often just needs the correct intervention for the correct stage of recovery.
Tendonitis always needs rest and ice.
Tendonitis, especially if it is recurrent, is actually not typically inflammatory. It often responds best to gradual progressive exercises.
Tendonitis is usually from overloading the tendon.
While this can occasionally be true in athletes with rigorous training routines, most tendonitis develops in tendons that are chronically underloaded or tendons that are overworking due to poor mechanics of the nearby joints.
There are so many hand therapy treatment options beyond pain medication.
There are several parts to a comprehensive home management program for hand osteoarthritis (OA) that do not involve medications including use of manual therapy, modalities, splinting, heat, topical creams, compression garments, and exercises for mobility and strength
It’s absolutely possible to maintain function and strength for your regular activities, including sports and leisure, especially if you start early.
Having a proper management program for hand arthritis means that you can continue to stay active in your regular day to day activities and for sports or leisure with less pain and better function and can even work to regain function and strength lost over time.
