“Rehabilitation will increase the ‘capacity’ of your …insert musculoskeletal tissue here….” Defining ‘tissue capacity’: a core concept for clinicians

• Published in: British journal of sports medicine Vol. 49; no. 23; pp. 1484 - 1485
• Main Authors: Cook, JL, Docking, SI
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.12.2015
• Subjects: Adaptation; Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology; Humans; Load; Pain; Rehabilitation; Tendinopathy - physiopathology; Tendinopathy - rehabilitation; Tendon Injuries - physiopathology; Tendon Injuries - rehabilitation; Tendons - physiopathology; Bone; Rehabilitation; Skeletal muscle; Tendon
• ISSN: 0306-3674; 1473-0480
• DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2015-094849

The hamstring may be fine (or not), but the groin may fail on return to change of direction sport such as football. [...]the initial hamstring injury may predispose the groin to subsequent injury due to reduced capacity in this region. There is evidence that the collagen in the tendon matrix is stable and has limited turnover after puberty. 5 Loading tendon appears to give different results depending on the age and gender of the participants; 6 again, younger tendons appear to be able to adapt structurally, 7 whereas adult tendons may not change in structure but adapt mechanically. 8 Structural adaptation is easy to understand, with more matrix proteins organised into viable matrix structure, while mechanical adaptation is less clear as the changes in the tendon that make it stiffer and more tolerant to higher loads are unknown.