Minimally-invasive ultrasound-guided needle therapy is providing relief for many people with tendon injuries.
Problems like 'tennis elbow' 'jumper's knee' and 'golfer's elbow' arise from tears in the tendons which support the joints. These become stiff and more prone to injury as we get older and affect athletes and non-athletes alike. They can restrict your physical activity and may be hard to repair by surgery.

Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University now report upon a new technique, which uses ultrasound to rapidly diagnose the problem and then insertion of a needle to apply immediate treatment. This might be injection of a steroid, to relieve inflammation, or roughening tissue around the tear to promote healing.

In a trial of more than 400 people, many were able to resume sporting activity after 12 weeks and 65 per cent reported improvement. They were suffering from a wide range of different tendon injuries and many had not responded to conventional treatments. The ultrasound treatment involves just a local anaesthetic and takes up to 15 minutes.