Tenex Health TX® System Procedure: Everything You Need to Know
Are you suffering from chronic tendon or plantar fascia pain?
Tendinitis (or tendonitis) is a repetitive stress injury caused by use and overuse during activity resulting in the irritation or inflammation of the tendon. Even the most mundane of repetitive motions can create microtears in the tendon which can lead to chronic tendinopathy (tendon degeneration) when those tears do not heal properly. In some cases, this may cause the formation of calcification within the tendon, further increasing pain, resulting in plantar fasciitis or other tendon degenerative diseases.
Are you suffering from pain caused by a bone spur?
A bone spur, also known as an osteophyte or enthesophyte, is a bony formation that develops on normal bone, and these growths can press against, rub on, and eventually cause inflammation, wear and tear, and pain of the surrounding tissues. If a bone spur is the source of your pain, restricting use may help reduce symptoms, but the symptoms will usually return.
If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be a candidate for a Tenex treatment.
The Tenex Health TX® System is a minimally-invasive, percutaneous procedure using ultrasonic energy to treat pain-generating soft and hard tissue conditions. This treatment is clinically proven to remove tendon pain for over 85% of patients1,2,3,4,5. If conservative approaches such as physical therapy, cortisone injections, medication, and downtime do not provide relief, Tenex may be your next option.
Using this technique, we help patients restore musculoskeletal function, may provide quick pain relief, and avoid invasive surgery and dangerous drugs. Tenex may also be effective if you have had a failed surgical procedure.
Patient benefits may include:*
- Rapid pain relief
- Quick recovery and return to normal activities in 6-8 weeks (compared to 6 months or more with an open surgical procedure)
- Single treatment
- Typically performed with local anesthetic (no general anesthesia)
- No sutures (requires only a small, adhesive bandage)
- Well-tolerated procedure
- Does not disturb surrounding healthy tendon
- Stimulates the body’s healing response in the tendon
*individual results may vary
What areas of the body can Tenex Health TX treat?
Speak with us today if you are suffering from:
- Shoulder tendinitis (rotator cuff or biceps)
- Lateral or medial epicondylitis (tennis or golfer’s elbow)
- Gluteal tendinitis (hip)
- Pelvic hamstring tendinitis
- Patella tendinitis (runner or jumper’s knee)
- Achilles tendinitis (ankle)
- Plantar fasciitis (foot or heel)
- Calcific deposit in the tendon
- Pain associated with a bone spur or bony prominence
How does Tenex Health TX work?
Precisely targets your damaged tissue.
Your doctor will use image-guidance to identify and target the exact location of your injury (damaged tendon tissue, bone spur, and/or calcific deposit).
Removes the damaged tissue.
Following the identification of the pain generator, the area is numbed using a local anesthetic. After being numbed (which is comparable to a bee sting), many people say that during the procedure, they only felt a slight pressure (if anything at all). Your doctor then uses ultrasonic energy, applied with the TX MicroTip, designed to safely break down and remove the damaged tissue. This requires only a small incision into the target, diseased tissue, and it is effective for the elimination of degenerative tissue, leaving healthy tendons unharmed.
Requires no stitches.
After the procedure, your doctor will apply only a small adhesive bandage. Though you will likely be awake during the procedure (depending on what, if any, additional Centeno-Schultz procedures you receive on the same day), our safety protocols most likely require you have someone to drive you home afterward.
May offer rapid pain relief and faster recovery.
Following a Tenex Health TX procedure, many people are back to normal activity within 6-8 weeks and even less in some cases. The minimally invasive approach and targeted removal of the tissue mean there is less discomfort and minimal downtime when compared with open surgery. Your recovery timeline depends on the location and extent of the damaged tissue being treated.
The medical procedure called percutaneous tenotomy or percutaneous fasciotomy using the Tenex Health TX System is specifically designed for those suffering from painful conditions associated with chronic tendon or plantar fascia damage. It is also known as chronic tendinosis/plantar fasciosis or tendinopathy/plantar fasciopathy. For more information, visit www.tenexhealth.com.
Clinical References:
- Freed L, Ellis M, Johnson K, Haddon T. Fasciotomy and surgical tenotomy for chronic Achilles insertional tendinopathy: a retrospective study using ultrasound-guided percutaneous microresection. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2019; 109(1):1-8.
- Koh JS, Mohan PC, Howe TS, Lee BP, Chia SL, Yang Z, Morrey BF. Fasciotomy and surgical tenotomy for chronic lateral elbow tendinopathy: early clinical experience with a novel device for minimally invasive percutaneous microresection. Am J Sports Med. 2013; 41(3):636-644.
- Patel M. A novel treatment method for refractory plantar fasciitis. Am J Orthop. 2015;44(3):107-110.
- Razdan R, Vanderwoude E, Braun A, Morrey BF. Percutaneous ultrasonic fasciotomy: a novel approach to treat chronic plantar fasciitis. J Surg Proced Tech. 2018;3(102):1-6.
- Seng C, Mohan PC, Koh SB, Howe TS, Lim YG, Lee BP, Morrey BF. Ultrasonic percutaneous tenotomy for recalcitrant lateral elbow tendinopathy: sustainability and sonographic progression at 3 years. Am J Sports Med. 2016; 44(2):504-510. (epublished: Nov 2015).
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