Re: new bskball column

["James C. McMaster (Jim)" <mcmasjc@tatanka.stortek.com>]

In message <002501c19f76$6e54e7e0$86761d18@nyc.rr.com>, "Josh Ozersky" said:
> Kestas,
> 
> A question about tendinitis.  What does it take for it to get better?
> Eric had it bad earlier in the season, but now he's better.  Does 
> Antoine need to take a week off?  What can we expect?
> 
> Josh
> 
Not Kestas (or a doctor), but I have had tendonitis.  It is a swelling (itis) 
of tissue that connects a muscle to the bone.  It can range from slight 
discomfort to debilitating pain.  Treatment consists of rest and 
anti-inflammatory drugs, which range from aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil or 
Motrin) up through naprosyn (Alleve) all the way up to cortisone, either oral 
or injected at the site of the swelling.

According to an orthopedist who treated me several years ago, tendons have a 
channel through which they normally run without excessive friction.  Once a 
tendon swells, it starts to rub against the sides of the channel.  This can 
further irritate the tendon and cause more swelling.  Thus you can get into a 
vicious cycle where the injury just keeps getting worse and more painful.

A cortisone shot is the big hammer.  This just forces the inflammation to go 
down for a day or two.  Once the swelling goes down, the tendon stops rubbing 
against the sides of the channel and gets better.  On the other hand, 
cortisone shots are painful and can lead to serious side-effects.  I once got 
a cortisone shot which basically fixed the problem in a couple of hours.  
Other times tendonitis has bothered me for weeks or even months.

If Walker has tendonitis, it is possible he can play through it, depending on 
his pain threshold.  If he gets into the vicious cycle, though, it might take 
a week or two of rest for it to go away.
-- 
Jim McMaster
mailto:mcmasjc@tatanka.stortek.com
Go Celtics!