In “past, present, future”, we ask clinical or academic experts to reflect on selected Sports & Exercise Medicine topics. Today Jill Cook on Tendinopathy.
Tell us more about yourself.
Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia at the La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine Research Centre. My research includes tendons and other musculoskeletal tissues. I am also a part-time clinician.
What was hip and happening 10 years ago?
The hippest and happening changes in tendinopathy occurred earlier than 10 years ago, where we improved our understanding of pathology and realised that active treatments were the best. We were moving on from eccentrics and understanding that isometrics may have a role in managing early tendinopathy. The last 10 years have been a consolidation of the findings in the 1990s and 2000s.
What are we doing now?
Finding out the differences between the tendon, the upper and lower limb and the role of the central and peripheral nervous system in tendinopathy. Improving reporting in clinical trials and trying to standardise and improve diagnostic criteria.
Where do you think we will be 10 years from now?
Revisiting previous concepts as we currently are with inflammation. So many great research findings are ignored or forgotten because they were published decades ago. In tendons, for example, reading Michael Benjamin’s work would be helpful for clinicians to understand how tendons work.