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[punchnpie]

I hadn't considered the AT. My sister the opera-singer has done it; it never occurred to me (or to my PT apparently) to try it for this.

I don't like touching in general, but the tendonitis is right at the inner pantie line, a rather delicate place, dignity-wise, for anyone to be touching who isn't related to me by marriage. I don't think I could take repeated touching down there by a stranger.

I got a bunch of exercises and stretches to do, and I have the ice pack, so I'm going to give all of those a try for the next 2 weeks and see how it goes. I haven't done the elliptical yet, but might do it after school starts as I can see wanting the increased movement after being in class for hours at a time after being home for months.

[see_wolf]

Cutting back or eliminating dairy products can sometimes keep inflammation down.

I also recommend acupuncture.

The Fiona

I might try the acupuncture. I'm lactose intolerant - other than the odd bit of ice cream, no dairy for me. I've been drinking soy, and since they brought it out, almond, milks for years.

I may have made things worse by continuing to walk for exercise. The therapist said to use the elliptical machine or bike, but not a recumbent  bike, which would put more stress on the tendon, as does walking. I started the exercises last night (oh, and typing this reminds me to get the ice pad, which I'm supposed to use several times a day), so we'll see. She said it would take 12 weeks to heal. wow.

She also suggested ultra sound to improve circulation if I don't see improvement (not cure, just a little improvement) in 2 weeks. Anybody have that done? I'd never heard of it, but this was the university's sports med clinic where they deal with the Big Ten athletes, so I assume they know what they're talking about and are on the cutting edge of therapies.

I'm very surprised they are waiting to try ultrasound.  It is a very effective therapeutic tool for tendinitis - especially a chronic condition like yours.  I'm one of those sports med people, and will use ultrasound early in the treatment plan.

[punchnpie]

I'm very surprised they are waiting to try ultrasound.  It is a very effective therapeutic tool for tendinitis - especially a chronic condition like yours.  I'm one of those sports med people, and will use ultrasound early in the treatment plan.

Well, it was suggested to me almost as I was going out of the door. I am a bit leery about being a guinea pig, and hadn't heard of this before. Plus, I always need to learn if there is a downside for diabetics, before I rush off and do the first thing somebody suggest.

Is it painful? If not painful while in process, is it one of those things that will make me hurt more first before I feel better? If that's the case, then maybe I don't want to wait until after school starts.

[see_wolf]

I'm very surprised they are waiting to try ultrasound.  It is a very effective therapeutic tool for tendinitis - especially a chronic condition like yours.  I'm one of those sports med people, and will use ultrasound early in the treatment plan.

Well, it was suggested to me almost as I was going out of the door. I am a bit leery about being a guinea pig, and hadn't heard of this before. Plus, I always need to learn if there is a downside for diabetics, before I rush off and do the first thing somebody suggest.

Is it painful? If not painful while in process, is it one of those things that will make me hurt more first before I feel better? If that's the case, then maybe I don't want to wait until after school starts.

It's not painful at all.  You actually should not feel anything, except some warmth (if the ultrasound head is heated) and the massage from the pressure.  Ultrasound, simplistically put, is a deep heat and 'vibration' therapy using sound waves - driven deep into the tissue.  It can penetrate deeper than a heat pack. 

Generally, it is tolerated very well, BUT you will have to 'expose' the area, as gel is the conductor from the ultrasound into the skin.  When they do this, you should be draped very well to limit your exposure, or you can ask to have privacy in a separate room (depending on how your PT place is set up).

No contraindications for diabetics, unless you have a wound over the area. 

[2clueless]

PNP, you really don't want to hear this, but most of my pain is from tendinitis (tertiary to the problem for which I just non-had surgery). My situation is extreme, but it started with groin pain and now, about a decade later, I have tendonitis in back muscles, butt muscles, ab muscles, hip muscles, and thigh muscles. In other words: take this seriously and allow it to heal.

For me, the things that keep it controlled to a moderate level include: sports massage (you get to be fully clothed, but it hurts like nothing else!), stretching, strenghtening weak muscles, DRUGS, limiting activity - but not too much, and varying position (sit/stand/walk). Oh, and drugs. Did I mention drugs? In PT, there should be some stretching and massage involved; they should look for muscle imbalances and give you exercises to correct that, but... yeah, not all PTs are awesome. Ask your PT to check whether your hips are even. Ultrasound isn't new-fangled in PT, although I've never been able to tell whether it helps me or not. You mentioned the area that hurts: couple of thoughts: find a very small, mostly deflated medicine ball or something super squooshy (the less squooshy, the more it will hurt. And yes, I have no idea how to spell squooshy). Get on the floor on your stomach and put the medicine ball right inside the hip bone where the tendonitis is. If it doesn't hurt like a €>|{*+>|{^*er, it's not in the right place. Stay there until you can't stand it; I think my record is 30 seconds. On amazon, search for The Stick, a white stick with blue handles that can get into that area really well, depending a bit on flexibility, I suppose. Keep track of groin/hip/back pain in general, because a number of serious hip conditions can present with groin pain initially; it's useful diagnostically, but I never mentioned it when the back pain began because they seemed unrelated: not so much, it turns out. I'm not a PT, so take everything I've said with a large grain of salt, but especially this: I found elliptical and upright bike to inflame more than just about anything.

[punchnpie]

PNP, you really don't want to hear this, but most of my pain is from tendinitis (tertiary to the problem for which I just non-had surgery). My situation is extreme, but it started with groin pain and now, about a decade later, I have tendonitis in back muscles, butt muscles, ab muscles, hip muscles, and thigh muscles. In other words: take this seriously and allow it to heal.

Yup, you're right, I don't want to hear this.  I have drugs from my bursitis. I kept refilling the script, even when the pain died down, so that I have quite the stockpile in case the docs get weird with me. The doctor said he thought I could eventually get off of them, though. He doesn't know me.

I have been doing my exercises and trying to remember the cold pack. I need to put a sign on my monitor 'COLD PACK!' I'm a bit worried about your comments about the elliptical, but I will try and see how it goes. I think I will call on Monday and see if I can get the ultrasound before school starts. Ugh. None of this sounds like where I want to be, but I am glad I took my friend's advice and went to the sports med clinic at least. I just hate how these invisible disabilities make you look so lazy when you can't keep up or take the stairs. Double ugh.

[2clueless]

I'll post a bit more detail about my situation when I have a keyboard, but do remember that my tendonitis is extreme and the result of underlying conditions. I'm not sure if I mentioned that I find drugs helpful, but in case I did, a bit of clarification: I've never taken any narcotics for this. I take absurdly high levels of NASID, another prescription anti-inflammatory, and prescription muscle relaxants. Stretching/strengthing exercises, a daily hot bath, weekly sports massage, managing activity, and delusion keep me functioning about 85% of the time. (This summer, when I wasn't able to manage activity, delusion disappeared, and the frequency of the other three deceased, I was functioning maybe 20% of the time or less.)

You'll be fine - in the medium-term, as long as you treat it in the short-term. A sports med clinic is absolutely the right place to be and I'd suggest being as aggressive as possible before school starts. At least for me, the start of the semester is always so crazy, no matter how prepared I thought I was, that I slip on taking care of myself, plus the added stress/activity/hours merely increases the discomfort. Of course, that's my reaction and yours may be very different.