I only developed enthesitis this past July, after 30 yrs of PsA. So I don't have the knowledge base of how to deal with it, how my body copes with it. I'd appreciate ANY ideas!
For now, with medication, it has settled down from full body to roving, asymmetrical locations. I am using ONE area as an example to see if anyone has suggestions for me.
Currently, my left calf area is the biggest problem. Every time I move my leg the whole calf seems tight (even with stretching first), and as I walk the area gets tigheter and tighter, more and more painful, and even limping or using a cane doesn't help. It ends up feeling like a constant muscle cramp as I walk, and my stride is limited by the tightness of the area. I feel like I can't take a full step.
If I stop and stretch it (even every 10 steps) I get relief for a few seconds and then it starts up again. The only thing that helps is staying off of it. When I get up, it starts all over again.
While not moving it, there is very minor pain, unless I press on certain areas.
Last night I slept with a thermacare heat patch over my calf all night, and when I woke up there was only about a 10% improvement when I got up to get dressed it started tightening up / causing pain again.
Using this one area as an example, what are my options? I am already on a good medication regimen, this is more of a secondary issue I just don't know how to deal with. Help!
I wish I had good answers. I've been dealing with tendon inflammation since just about the start of this all. I tend to have pain to the touch even, and have discovered exactly where all sorts of tendons go, and even have had some instances of bruising due to microtears. I wonder if you would benefit from seeing a physical therapist, who could help you with a stretching regimen, and could do some treatments, including ultrasound. Feel better soon. I know how rough it can be.
Iām afraid I donāt have any answers either Iāve had problems with tendon pain for years and have yet to find anything that works. Mine tends to manifest as sharp stabbing pains on movement and tenderness on touch, and can throb when at restā¦heat pads tend to ease the throb but nothing works on the sharp pain other than a TENS machine on my SI joint. (Doesnāt seem to help on any other area)
I did have ultrasound treatment about 10 years ago on my wrist and ankle tenosynovitis and this settled in about 6 weeks but it could also have settled on its own, who knows.
Hope you find something that works for you x
Louise- Do you find that sometimes it is very temporary? As an example, my shoulders have been a bit sore lately. So two days ago I was pulling up my pants, and had a sharp horrible pain in the front of my shoulder. It hurt with certain movements for the next 4 or 5 hours, and then went back to just a bit sore. I've had this happen with different tendons, for different periods of time.
I do stoney. Sometimes it feels like I have ripped the tendon right off the bone. Then it goes right back to mild only pain when I think it will take weeks to heal. Other times when I think something is just a nagging pain it turns out to be more serious and takes quite a while to heal. PsA is nothing if not surprising!
So should my conclusion be there's not much that can be done about the enthesitis? Like michael in vermont, sometimes I feel like if I move it I'm going to rip the tendon right off the bone. UGH, this disease! I was hoping someone would have a great idea, like "just sleep upside down in a sleeping bag, your tendons will feel great in the morning!" LOL
Yep Stoney, its the same for me, some areas hurt intensely for sometimes only hours, days or weeks, I can never tell whatās gonna hurt when and for how long. Last night I kept getting worken by sharp throbs just above my right ankle bone, which lasted about 3 to 4 heart beatsā¦and I thought āwhat theā¦?!ā The pain is often enough to make me shout and a couple of times Iāve had to get on the floor before I pass out. The (as I call them) āNumber 1ā spot can change so quickly one day it maybe shoulders by the evening it could be wrists I never knowā¦its just so unpredictable. For the last few weeks my wrists are painful on the side of the little (pinky) finger. Theyāre growing lumps! Hurts to drive, open doors, pushing a shopping trolley, and I can forget they hurt the rest of the time as they feel fine.
I have only just started getting the sharp agonising pain down my arm from my shoulder, it seem to only last for a short time but was very painful for a few about ten to fifteen minutes then it was sore afterwards and by the next day it is ok.. The last time I lifted a bag of fruit out of the back of my car and was walking to my front door.
Thanks guys for posting. I now think I know what I have. I have suffered with Tendonitis and Bursitis for much longer than I have been diagnosed for PsA. I am sure it is all related to my PsA and it is just that my doctors put it into different categories. My shoulders clunk in and out and so does one knee. My feet cramp up regularly even though I stretch them out rolling my foot over a ball or a frozen water bottle.
What has helped me is cortisone injections into my shoulder joint and into my upper arm for my shoulder. I had this done several times but a long time in between. Last time it was done in my shoulder while the the xray is still on a screen which meant that they could get it into the right place and then it was repeated a couple of weeks later. It took some time before it seemed to work as each day was so gradual I hardly noticed much difference and one day I noticed the soreness was gone. Now it is back again in my left shoulder. I have had cortisone in my right hip for Bursitis and in my spine under xray but that didn't help my back pain.
A TENS machine might help.
Massage has also helped me but it has to be very firm but not over painful. Breaking up the knots which is a muscle spasm needs a lot of pressure into the centre of it and it will hurt but it needs to be broken up to get good relief. Electric massagers are not as good as hands but can help, most are not strong enough to break up a knot.
I went to an Osteopath who was very good at massage an and stretching my limbs into different positions which helped.. He really knew his stuff and he knew exactly where to hone in on the areas that of where my pain comes from. I avoid going for a massage because of my embarrassment over Plaque P skin on my back even though some are very good and don't worry about it.
I hope this is at least a few options for you to try.
I've had the arch of my foot killing me for months, when it hurts badly it's very hard to walk, I didn't know what it was, I massaged it and all that but it didn't go away, thanks to this post I figure it's Enthitis. My Right shoulder has started to hurt as well, even holding a light book in my hand my should starts hurting.
My Rhuemy says Mtx should help, I've had 4 doses so far and nothing.
Iāve had problems with tendon pain for years and have yet to find anything that works. Mine tends to manifest as sharp stabbing pains on movement and tenderness on touch, and can throb when at restā¦heat pads tend to ease the throb but nothing works on the sharp pain other than a TENS machine on my SI joint. (Doesnāt seem to help on any other area)