Introduction
Inflammation of the tendon of the thigh often occurs in the context of sports injuries or overloading during sports. Another cause can be congenital or acquired malpositions of the thigh, which overstrain the tendons and cause painful inflammation. Much rarer causes of tendon inflammation are rheumatic diseases and bacterial infections of the tendon. By taking it easy and doing only light exercises to strengthen the muscles, tendon inflammations usually heal within a few weeks. For therapy, anti-inflammatory painkillers are usually still used, which among other things should also ensure that the inflammation does not lead to tendon calcification for a long time.
Definition
Inflammation of the tendon (tendinitis) describes the inflammation of the attachment or original structure of muscles, the tendons. These are used to attach muscles to bone or other structures. In addition to pure tendinitis, there is also tendovaginitis (tendosynovitis), i.e. an inflammation of the tissue channel that surrounds the tendon like a kind of tunnel.
Causes
There are different causes for tendon inflammation on the thigh. A frequent possibility is acute or chronic incorrect strain or irritation of the inflamed tendon. A chronic misuse can be caused by malpositioning of the knee or hip, which leads to the tendon being used permanently and in an unphysiological (unnatural) way.
Malalignments can exist from birth or can be caused later by injuries or operations. Of course, unevenly straining activities, such as certain sports (e.g. soccer) can also be a trigger. An acute inflammation can be caused by an injury during sports, work or accidents, whereby the tendon is exposed to sudden and strong forces, such as falling out or tripping.
Furthermore, inflammation of the thigh tendon is also associated with rheumatic diseases, i.e. processes in which the body recognizes the tendon tissue as foreign and tries to fight it. In these cases there are usually in addition, conspicuousness in other body regions, like for example morning-accented joint inflammations. Much rarer is an infectious cause – i.e. infection of the tendon by, for example, bacteria that have penetrated the surrounding tissue (the tendon sheath) through an open site or injury.
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