Excessive and inappropriate exercise may be a factor in connection between type 2 diabetes and tendonitis. A new study performed by Tom Ranger and associates looked into the association between tendinopathy and diabetes; they performed a systematic review along with a meta-analysis of nine medical databases, which looked into patients with both diabetes and tendonitis.

The researchers had a total of 31 studies with 26 of them including people with diabetes and five with tendinopathy. What they found was that the patients with tendinopathy were more likely to have diabetes and other related issues. Luckily, more research has been conducted in the past 10 years looking further into the subject matter, not only observing the issue, but understanding the cause and possible treatments for patients with this condition.

Many rheumatological conditions may exacerbate the clinical course of diabetes mellitus; one such condition is tendonitis. Patients who have diabetes are much more prone to develop problems with tendons than those without diabetes, most likely due to the blood supply being more sparse to the tendons than normal. This means that very early diabetic changes in blood vessels may show up first in the tendons. Another plausible explanation for this is that high blood sugar may cause abnormal thickening of the tendons. The word “tendinopathy” itself refers to “injuries and inflammation of the tendons, the soft tissues that connect muscles to bones, usually due to overuse or repetitive movements.” Common forms of tendon damage, which are more predominant in patients with diabetes and prediabetes, are carpal tunnel syndrome, tarsal tendon syndrome and frozen shoulder.

Further research is necessary to explore the magnitude of diabetes amongst patients who experience tendon pain and vice versa. It is clear, however, that there is a link between the two conditions.

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