Summary
Tendons connect muscles to bones and experience stretching forces when muscles contract. Many tendons also encounter compressive forces from physical contact with bone, a phenomenon known as “impingement.” While impingement is common in healthy tendons, tendon diseases often develop at sites of tendon impingement. Unfortunately, it is not known why impingement is typically benign yet sometimes harmful. Preliminary studies suggest that the speed of impingement could influence its effect on tendon. That is, while fast impingement produces large deformations in tendon cells and their surrounding
