Health A-Z

Medical Content Created by the Faculty of the
Harvard Medical School

Tendonitis

Diagnosis

After reviewing your medical history, including any previous joint injuries, your doctor will ask you specific questions about your pain:

• What does your pain feel like (sharp, dull, burning)?

• Where is your pain located? Is it limited to one area or does it spread away from the joint to involve a wider area on your arm, leg or hand?

• Do you have tingling, numbness or weakness?

• When did your pain start? Did it begin after a sudden increase in your work activities or exercise? Might it be related to any new sport or exercise that you've recently tried?

• What makes it feel better, and what makes it worse?

• Does the pain disappear when you rest the area, or is it present even at rest?

• Have you had unprotected sex?

During the physical exam, your doctor will look for tenderness, swelling, redness, muscle weakness and limited motion in the area of the sore tendon. Your doctor also may ask you to move in certain ways, such as raising your arm above your head or bending your wrist. These moves may hurt, but they are very important to help your doctor figure out which tendon is affected. In most cases, a diagnosis can be made based on your medical history and symptoms, together with your occupational and sports history and the results of your physical examination

Some people may need blood tests to look for other causes of inflammation around the joints, such as gout or rheumatoid arthritis. X-rays also may be taken to confirm that there is no fracture, dislocation or bone disease. In people with Achilles tendonitis, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans may be used to help evaluate the extent of tendon damage.