Compression gloves to increase circulation for tendon health?

Hey Guys,

One of the things that I know you have to be careful during heavy training is your tendon strength. Tendons gain strength much slower than muscle and my understanding is that is related to blood circulation levels in tendons are much lower than the circulation in muscles.

amazon.com/IMAK-Arthritis-G…

I saw these gloves designed for arthritic hands to increase circulation using both warmth and mild compression.

Would such a thing be useful while nursing sore fingers? Recovering from a climbing injury?

Or just as a preventative measure while doing heavy training?

DanielRich wrote:Tendons gain strength much slower than muscle

What's the actual scientific evidence for this?
How about like some well-controlled study done in the last twenty-five years?
. . (somebody on UKclimbing forum in the last few years said he searched for a modern study to support this old climbing lore, but couldn't find anything credible.

I can easily believe that some tendons grow faster than some muscles, and easily believe that some tendons do not as much blood supply as some muscles - (but after all, why would a tendon need as much blood supply as a muscle -- since a working muscle needs oxygen and fuel)

also How about distinguishing between "standard" tendons which make the obvious connection between the end of bundle of muscle fibers to an adjoining bone. And not-so-standard ones that have "supporting" roles like finger pulleys.

It would seem kind of unlikely to me that millions of years of mammalian evolution would not have resulted in a significant mis-match in rate of growth of strength ... between "standard" tendons and the muscles they are intended to connect.

Ken

kenr wrote: What's the actual scientific evidence for this? How about like some well-controlled study done in the last twenty-five years? . . (somebody on UKclimbing forum in the last few years said he searched for a modern study to support this old climbing lore, but couldn't find anything credible. I can easily believe that some tendons grow faster than some muscles, and easily believe that some tendons do not as much blood supply as some muscles - (but after all, why would a tendon need as much blood supply as a muscle -- since a working muscle needs oxygen and fuel) also How about distinguishing between "standard" tendons which make the obvious connection between the end of bundle of muscle fibers to an adjoining bone. And not-so-standard ones that have "supporting" roles like finger pulleys. It would seem kind of unlikely to me that millions of years of mammalian evolution would not have resulted in a significant mis-match in rate of growth of strength ... between "standard" tendons and the muscles they are intended to connect. Ken

Hi Ken,

It's a function of anatomy: the tendons are just moving too much for them to be connected to arteries and veins, so they get oxygen and nutrients by diffusion from adjacent tissues. Cartilage has the same issue. To verify this, look at a tendon next time you're prepping some meat: they are white as white can be; this is because there is no blood in them at all.

I can't speak to the efficacy of the gloves in the OP's question, though intuitively, something that had the potential to restrict blood flow doesn't sound that great...

Cheers,
David

Overthinking

Choss

DanielRich wrote:Hey Guys, One of the things that I know you have to be careful during heavy training is your tendon strength. Tendons gain strength much slower than muscle and my understanding is that is related to blood circulation levels in tendons are much lower than the circulation in muscles. amazon.com/IMAK-Arthritis-G… I saw these gloves designed for arthritic hands to increase circulation using both warmth and mild compression. Would such a thing be useful while nursing sore fingers? Recovering from a climbing injury? Or just as a preventative measure while doing heavy training?

I guess the other thing to think about is that if these gloves DO work to give additional support to your tendons, this seems like it could allow you to FURTHER increase the difference in strength between your muscles and your tendons, and then you'd just have an even bigger risk for injury.

Sometimes I sleep in a snug fitting pair of light cotton gloves. I started because I thought it might help my skin heal faster in the desert but it seems like it increases blood flow in my hands and fingers as well. The gloves definitely keep my fingers warmer and I feel a strong pulse in my finger tips when falling asleep with light gloves.

Those arthritis gloves look like a scam though. You can get 4 pair of cotton gloves at home depot for around $4. And while you're there, pick up some O'keefe's Working Hands in the paint section.