PATIENT
EDUCATION

Before a tendon tears, it often undergoes a slow degenerative process that can be more painful than a tear. In fact, some patients actually report having less pain after the degenerative tendon finally tears. The degenerative process is called tendinosis. It was once called tendinitis, which means inflammation in the tendon (‘itis’ = inflammation), but research has shown that the process is not inflammatory.

The truth is, we don’t exactly know why the tendon develops tendinosis. We do know, however, that tendon degeneration is responsible for the pain patients experience with conditions such as golfer’s elbow, tennis elbow, shoulder pain, and many other musculoskeletal pains. In the case of the rotator cuff in the shoulder, tendinosis frequently coexists with other painful conditions, such as bursitis and impingement. Common non-surgical treatments include therapy, provocative activity avoidance, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (i.e., ibuprofen), and cortisone. Until recently there have been no good surgical options for patients who don’t respond to nonsurgical treatment.

Tenex Health TX®, a new, minimally invasive treatment option, now fills this gap. Tenex Health TX uses the process of phacoemulsification to remove the abnormal tendon and promote tendon healing. Phacoemulsification was initially developed for the removal of cataracts of the eye. The treatment safely removes only the diseased tissue while leaving the healthy, intact tissue undisturbed so the healing process can begin. The Tenex Health TX procedure for the purposes of treating tendinosis was developed by physicians at the Mayo Clinic and presented as “a breakthrough technology for the treatment of chronic tendon pain.”

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