One thing about the internet, there are lots and lots of supposed cures for pretty much everything under the sun. Tendonitis is no exception; you can find bogus remedies like magnesium, bath salts and crystals with the click of a button. But lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of talk about using capsaicin to relieve or cure tendon pain.
If you don’t know what capsaicin is, it’s what makes hot peppers hot. The idea relating to tendon pain is if you apply capsaicin topically, it will activate the pain nerves, but then make them less sensitive (through an overload effect), so as to reduce the overall amount of pain.
For example, this site says :
Capsaicin “numbs” the sensation of pain in joints affected by tendonitis. This effect occurs from capsaicin blocking the production of a neuropeptide named substance P, which is responsible for the sensation of pain.
and then lists this study as their reference: Deal, C. L. The use of topical capsaicin in managing arthritis pain: A clinician’s perspective. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 23(6):1994;48-52, 1994. I won’t comment on the blockage of substance P, but I will say that this site doesn’t know what it’s talking about when it comes to tendons. First, tendons aren’t joints; the structures are completely different (collagen vs. cartilage). So the fact that something that works in a joint has absolutely no bearing on tendons, and talking about “joints affected by tendonitis” is simply wrong. Second, the study is about arthritis pain, not tendon pain. Sorry, but those are different, too.
So, one argument down. Another is that applying heat to a painful area can produce relief. There may be some merit to this idea. After all, people use hot-packs all the time. But the problem (as I mentioned in my post about menthol and tendon pain) is that capsaicin doesn’t produce any real heat. Sure, you’ll feel like something’s on fire, but no actual increase in temperature occurs. The capsaicin just causes your body’s heat sensors to react as though there was real heat.
To put it bluntly, using capsaicin for tendon pain is a bad idea. Icing a tendon can be a good modality for tendon pain that’s not too severe and hasn’t been around for long, but even that won’t be effective for persistent tendon pain. Heat…well, heat just isn’t on the scientifically-verified menu — not even real heat. Finally, there is absolutely no research showing that topical capsaicin creams and so on are effective, and anecdotal reports of trying to rub chili powder and so on directly onto the skin usually end badly.
If you have persistent, long-term tendon pain, it’s a good bet that you don’t have tendonitis, but tendonosis (take my free, one-minute test to find out which you have), and neither heating nor cooling is going to help much. Long-term pain usually means tendon degeneration, and for that you’re going to need some targeted exercises and a good nutritional strategy to rebuild the affected area. Target Tendonitis provides both, and comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
