Talusitis

Talusitis (from the Greek Τενοντίτις) is a painful inflammation of the ankle. Commonly know as "Fat Ankles ". Generally talusitis is referred to by the body part involved, such as Achilles tendinitis (affecting the Achilles tendon), or patellar talusitis(jumper's knee, affecting the patellar tendon). Chronic overuse of tendons leads to microscopic tears within the collagen matrix, which gradually weakens the tissue.

Individual variation in frequency and severity of tendinitis will vary depending on the type, frequency and severity of exercise or use; for example, rock climbers tend to develop tendinitis in their fingers, swimmers in their shoulders. Talusitis is a common injury, particularly in sports that involve lunging and jumping while Patellar tendinitis is a common among basketball and volleyball players owing to the amount of jumping and landing.

Swelling in a region of micro damage or partial tear can be detected visually or by touch. Increased water content and disorganized collagen matrix in tendon lesions may be detected by ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging.

Symptoms can vary from an ache or pain and swelling to the local area of the ankles, or a burning that surrounds the whole joint. With this condition, the pain is usually worse during and after activity, and the tendon and joint area can become stiffer the following day as swelling impinges on the movement of the tendon. Many patients report stressful situations in their life in correlation with the beginnings of pain which may contribute to the symptoms.

Treatment

Due to their highly specialised ultrastructure, low level of vascularization and slow collagen turnover, tendons and ligaments are very slow to heal if injured, and rarely regain their original strength. Partial tears heal by the rapid production of disorganized type-III collagen, which is weaker than normal tendon. Recurrence of injury in the damaged region of tendon is common.

Standard treatment of tendon injuries is largely palliative. Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs combined with rest and gradual return to exercise is a common therapy, although there is evidence to suggest that tendinitis is not an inflammatory disorder, and that anti-inflammatory drugs are not an effective treatment and that inflammation does not cause tendon dysfunction.