Ruptured Tendon Glossary of Terms

1. Least Effective Exercises Slideshow
2. Dehydration Slideshow
3. First Aid Care and Pain Relief for Minor Injuries

Achilles tendon: One of the longest tendons in the body, a tough sinew that attaches the c...

Acute: Of abrupt onset, in reference to a disease. Acute often also connotes an illness th...

Ankle: The ankle joint is complex. It is made up of two joints: the true ankle joint and ...

Arthroscope: A thin flexible fiberoptic scope which is introduced into a joint space throu...

Autopsy: A postmortem examination. Also known as necropsy.

Baseline: Information or data gathered at the beginning of a period from which variations ...

Biceps: A muscle that has two heads, or origins. There is more than one biceps muscle. The...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Calcaneus: The heel bone, a more or less rectangular bone at the back of the foot. Also kn...

Calf: The belly or fleshy hind part of the back of the leg below the knee. The calf is mad...

Cast: 1) A protective shell of fiberglass, plastic, or plaster, and bandage that is molde...

Chronic: In medicine, lasting a long time. A chronic condition is one that lasts 3 months ...

Compression: 1. The act of pressing together. As in a compression fracture, nerve c...

Contraction: The tightening and shortening of a muscle.

Contrast: Short for "contrast media." Contrast media are X-ray dyes used to provide contra...

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Distal: The more (or most) distant of two (or more) things. For example, the distal end of...

Elbow: The juncture of the long bones in the middle portion of the upper extremity. The bo...

Emergency department: The department of a hospital responsible for the provision of medica...

Extremity: An uttermost part of the body, such as a hand or a foot.

Flexion: The process of bending, or the state of being bent. For example, flexion of the f...

Forearm: The portion of the upper limb from the elbow to the wrist. The forearm has two bo...

Gout: Condition characterized by abnormally elevated levels of uric acid in the blood, rec...

Heart: The muscle that pumps blood received from veins into arteries throughout the body. ...

Humerus: The long bone in the upper arm that extends from the shoulder to the elbow.

Hyperparathyroidism: Too much parathyroid hormone resulting in abnormally high levels of ...

Incision: A cut through skin or other tissue performed by a health care professional.

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Joint: The area where two bones are attached for the purpose of permitting body parts to m...

Knee: The knee is a joint which has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the lar...

Kneecap: The patella, the small bone in the front of the knee. The patella is a little (se...

Leg: In popular usage, the part of the body from the top of the thigh down to the foot, an...

Ligament: A tough band of connective tissue that connects various structures, such as two ...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Operation: In medicine, a surgical procedure. Many operations are named after persons. The...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Palm: The grasping side of the hand; the flexor surface of the hand. In contrast to the ba...

Patella: The kneecap by another name, the patella is the small bone that is in the front ...

Patellar: Pertaining to the patella (kneecap).

Patellar tendon: A tendon that extends down from the quadriceps muscle in the thigh to inc...

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Physical therapy: A branch of rehabilitative health that uses specially designed exercises...

Posterior: The back or behind, as opposed to the anterior.

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Proximal: Toward the beginning, the nearer of two (or more) items. For example, the proxim...

Quadriceps: Although the term "quadriceps" technically may refer to any four-headed muscle...

Rectus: Usually refers to the rectus abdominis, a large muscle in the front of the abdomen...

Rotator cuff: A group of four tendons that stabilize the shoulder joint. Each of these ten...

Rupture: A break or tear in any organ (such as the spleen) or soft tissue (such as the ach...

Shoulder: A structure made up of two main bones: the scapula (shoulder blade) and the hume...

Shoulder joint: The flexible ball-and-socket joint formed by the junction of the humerus...

Steroid: One of a large group of chemical substances classified by a specific carbon struc...

Strain: 1. An injury to a tendon or muscle resulting from overuse or trauma. 2. A heredita...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Supination: Rotation of the arm or leg outward. In the case of supination of the arm, the ...

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity via operative or manual meth...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the con...

Tendon: The soft tissue by which muscle attaches to bone. Tendons are somewhat flexible, b...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Trauma: A physical or emotional injury.

Ultrasound: High-frequency sound waves. Ultra-sound waves can be bounced off tissues by us...

Vital: Necessary to maintain life. For example, breathing is a vital function.