Can somebody explain what exactly is involved in an operation to relieve 'inflammation' ?

As I understand it, inflammation doesn't involve physical damage, so what needs to be cut to relieve it ?

Or is it that there is some physical damage with tendonitis ?

This cropped up in the middle of last night when I was trying to get to sleep formulating solutions for the current ailments at SJP.

Sad or what ?

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Answers

I think you should ask a Doctor Pit Bill. I'm not a medical man myself but I reckon he might sggest a course of sleeping tablets. ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Still suffering from my own achilles tendon rupture.... I think that the inflamation is caused by tears in the tendon... they settle down and when you overstretch the next time they rupture again. Operation can be to sew together the torn bits of tendon.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

I had precisely the same problem last night, PB.

I believe the inflammation is the body's defence mechanism to protect the injured bit, and also to let you know something isn't right.

Injecting cortisone can dramatically reduce the inflammation, but does nothing to repair the underlying problem. If two previous injections haven't allowed the body to heal the bit that's hurt, you can be pretty damn sure the third one one won't either.

I believe that in espionage circles this general philosophical approach is frequently referred to as "Russian Roulette" - you've probably heard of it.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Thankyou Geordie.

As for the sleeping tablets, the way things are at the moment, I probably couldn't be trusted with more than one or two at a time.

I'll just keep doing what I've always done - thresh around all night and then kip all day at work.

Ony jokin' boss:-))

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Sleepless
We deep thinkers make rods for our own backs do we not ?

There has to be a better and much quicker way to go insane than leaving oneself open to the mental anguish that is NUFC.

Talk about the chinese water toture.

Nee problem.

NUFC is infinitely more fiendish.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Or even 'torture'.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

A couple of weeks ago the Racing Post had a very good picture of what tendonitis means to a horse. This came after Looks Like Trouble did the best run seen for years and then went down with tendonitis the next day. There's a good chance the horse will never be the same again, but even if he is it will be over a year before he runs again. I can't find the picture but these were the words ..................

The tendon is the tissue that absorbs the impact of jumping and galloping, and once damaged it does not repair easily, hence the pessimism surrounding Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Looks Like Trouble. It is the most common injury in jumps racing, and damage is just as likely to occur during light exercise as when competing at full stretch. A tendon injury ended the career of Noel Chance's 1997 Gold Cup winner Mr Mulligan, who was retired after suffering damage to his near-fore two races into the following season. The other recent high-profile Cheltenham winner to suffer such problems is Barton, who missed the whole of last season after he was found to have heat in a tendon. Lord Gyllene and Cyfor Malta have also suffered similar problems, and Teeton Mill slipped a tendon off his hock during the 1999 Gold Cup. There is no sure-fire remedy, according to a leading equine vet. Tim Greet, a partner in the Newmarket practice Rossdales, said yesterday: "Tendons are not very elastic, but they have a fantastic mechanism by which they stretch and extend, and therefore absorb the stress and strain they suffer when the horse runs or jumps. "Because they are major absorbers of shock in the horse's leg, they are frequently injured, as they are in human athletes. "Tendon tissue has an ability to repair, but this is not as good as with other tissues. "If a tendon breaks down-by that I mean the fibres become disrupted and torn apart-it heals like a skin wound with a blood clot that sits in the hole and repairs in a random fashion. That could be a site of weakness forever. "A major tendon injury is a permanent problem and many horses cope with variable degrees of tendon injuries. But there isn't any brilliant means of restoring a completely ruptured tendon to normal. "Most trainers will be pretty familiar with the feeling of their horses' legs and what they are looking for is evidence of heat, swelling or pain. If the tendon is rested before serious irreparable damage is done then the horse has a better chance of being restored to athletic soundness." Greet added: "An ultra-sound scan gives the most reliable means of looking at the tendon. Depending on what that shows, the horse may require a shorter or longer period of convalescence. There is good evidence that most tendons are best treated by controlled exercise. There are a whole variety of surgical procedures, including firing, but pretty little scientific evidence to back anything being better than mother nature.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Sounds about right. My achilles is being treated by some weird exercises to strengthen the rest of the calf muscle.. hopefully taking strain off the tendon. One of the problems with tendon injuries seems to be that they are painful.... BUT... if you exercise the pain goes away. So during a match our Mr. Shearer is probably OK but the next day he'll pay for it in spades!

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

I've had a head cold - you should see my nose!

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Did you pick it when you were younger, Gibbo? Well, you should have picked a different one! Hat, gloves and duffle coat.

-- Anonymous, December 13, 2000

Since wor Al is being worked like a horse, maybe an equine vet would be a better bet to get him sorted. :-)

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2000

So would that make him a whinnying diving get?

Parka, ice scraper, skating away.... ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 14, 2000