Christopher EllisCEO Dynamic Physio Therapy

Tendons: Understanding Tendonitis, Causes, and Treatments #shorts

3 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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In this short educational video, Christopher Ellis introduces tendons, contrasting them with ligaments, and explains their anatomical structure and function. He describes tendons as elastic, stretch‑capable interfaces between muscle and bone, unlike the passive, non‑stretching nature of ligaments. Using a chicken wing as a visual analogy, he highlights the tendon’s firm attachment to bone. He also points out the blood‑supply gradient within muscle tissue—red, well‑vascularized muscle belly versus the whiter, poorly vascularized tendon ends—setting the stage for later discussion of tendon conditions such as tendonitis, tendinopathy, and tendinosis, their causes, and treatment options.

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Today's episode, I want to talk about tendons. Tendonitis, tendinopathy, tendinosis, what those all mean, what causes them, and what to do about them. So let me start off by describing what tendons are. What's a tendon? A ligament is a passive structure. Think of it as a piece of duct tape holding 2 bones together. So it's a bone-to-bone attachment, and it's, it's not meant to be stretched. Whereas a tendon, Deals with recoil and elasticity. It does stretch to some degree, not as much as the muscle itself, and it is the interface between the muscle and the bone. When you look at the muscle itself, the belly of the muscle is red, so it means it has a lot of blood supply, whereas the ends get more white, that transitional zone, that means poor blood supply. That's the tendon. So if you eat a chicken wing and there's that little firm piece that attaches to the bone, that's the tendon. So what are tendons made of?