I have read a series of randomized control trials and case studies by the same research group (1,2,3) that seem to indicate that hyperthermia helps treat tendinopathies. The hyperthermia machines they used combine a superficial cooling system and a deep-heating source with a microwave power generator at 434 MHz (to be precise, 433.92-MHz microwaves generator with a maximum output power of 100 W). They used a ALBA Hyperthermia System (Restek SRL, Rome, Italy).
However, I couldn't find RCTs from other research groups confirming or infirming these results. (4) seems to show on tenocytes that were isolated from rabbit Achilles tendon that hyperthermia upregulates tenocyte catabolism and downregulates anabolism:
and (5) indicate that tendon hyperthermia could be a potential cause of tendon injury.
- (1) Giombini, A., A. Di Cesare, G. Casciello, D. Sorrenti, S. Dragoni, and P. Gabriele. "Hyperthermia at 434 MHz in the treatment of overuse sport tendinopathies: a randomised controlled clinical trial." International journal of sports medicine 23, no. 3 (2002): 207-211. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8021114068092765088&hl=en&as_sdt=0,22
- (2) Di Cesare, Annalisa, Arrigo Giombini, Stefano Dragoni, Luciano Agnello, Maurizio Ripani, Vincenzo Maria Saraceni, and Nicola Maffulli. "Calcific tendinopathy of the rotator cuff. Conservative management with 434 Mhz local microwave diathermy (hyperthermia): a case study." Disability and rehabilitation 30, no. 20-22 (2008): 1578-1583. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=16215083876154350362&hl=en&as_sdt=0,22; http://sci-hub.cc/10.1080/09638280701786351
- (3) Giombini, Arrigo, Annalisa Di Cesare, Marc R. Safran, Riccardo Ciatti, and Nicola Maffulli. "Short-term effectiveness of hyperthermia for supraspinatus tendinopathy in athletes a short-term randomized controlled study." The American journal of sports medicine 34, no. 8 (2006): 1247-1253. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=12855774679211931287&hl=en&as_sdt=0,22
- (4) Tashiro, Masataka, Eijiro Maeda, and Toshiro Ohashi. "101 Effect Of Hyperthermia On Tenocyte Physiological Functions." British Journal of Sports Medicine 48, no. Suppl 2 (2014): A65-A66. http://sci-hub.cc/10.1136/bjsports-2014-094114.100
- (5) Farris, Dominic James, Grant Trewartha, and Miranda Polly McGuigan. "Could intra-tendinous hyperthermia during running explain chronic injury of the human Achilles tendon?." Journal of biomechanics 44, no. 5 (2011): 822-826. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021929011000145; http://sci-hub.cc/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.12.015
From (3):
