After a stroke you may be diagnosed with tendonitis for a variety of reasons. A tendon is what attaches the muscle to the bone. Ligaments attach bone to bone. ‘Itis’ means ‘inflammation of’ so tendonitis is inflammation of a tendon. Like I said, this can happen after a stroke for a number of reasons. To treat tendonitis, I always used eccentric contractions. Think of a bicep curl. Everyone knows what that is. In a normal bicep curl, the forearm is getting closer to the upper arm so the bicep muscle is getting shorter. This is a concentric contraction. An eccentric contraction is the opposite, the muscle gets longer. So slow and controlled lowering of a weight in a bicep curl is an eccentric contraction. The forearm is getting further away from the upper arm so the bicep muscle is getting longer. Ever hear of ‘negatives’ in the gym? That’s an eccentric contraction. If you have tendonitis anywhere use eccentric contractions, works like a charm.
Categories: Rehab, Stroke stuff
My OT used to tell me that if you didn’t have control using muscles concentrically try eccentric. Probably the best info I got from a therapist and it led to a better way to thinking about recovery. Dean
That’s really good advice.
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