The four main symptoms of tendonitis are pain, swelling, stiffness, and a crackling or popping sensation during movement. These symptoms center on the spot where a tendon connects to bone, and they can range from mildly annoying to severe enough to limit everyday activities.
Pain That Worsens With Movement
Pain is the hallmark of tendonitis and usually the first thing you notice. It typically feels like a dull ache around the affected tendon, not a sharp or stabbing sensation. The pain sits right at the point where the tendon meets bone, though it can radiate into the surrounding area.
What distinguishes tendonitis pain from a muscle strain or bruise is its relationship to movement. The ache tends to be mild at rest but flares when you use the joint. Lifting your arm overhead with shoulder tendonitis, gripping something with tennis elbow, or pushing off your foot with Achilles tendonitis will all intensify it. Tenderness to the touch is also common. Pressing directly on the tendon often reproduces the pain, even when you’re not moving the joint.
One useful clue, especially with Achilles tendonitis: pain and stiffness are often worst with your first steps in the morning, then improve slightly as the tendon warms up with gentle movement. That “better after loosening up” pattern is a classic tendonitis signature.
Swelling and Skin Changes
Inflammation in the tendon often produces visible swelling around the joint. It may look puffy or slightly enlarged compared to the same area on your other side. In some cases, the skin over the swollen tendon changes color, shifting to a reddish or purplish tone (or darker than your natural skin tone on deeper complexions). The area can also feel warm to the touch.
Swelling from tendonitis is usually mild to moderate. It’s not the dramatic, balloon-like swelling you’d see with a broken bone or severe sprain. If swelling appears suddenly and is accompanied by significant bruising, that points toward a more serious injury like a tendon tear rather than tendonitis.
Stiffness and Reduced Range of Motion
Tendonitis makes the affected joint feel stiff and hard to move through its full range. You might struggle to fully bend your knee, rotate your shoulder, or flex your wrist without discomfort. This stiffness is partly from the swelling physically restricting the joint, and partly because your body instinctively limits movement to protect the irritated tendon.
The stiffness tends to be most noticeable after periods of inactivity, like sleeping or sitting for a long stretch. As you gently move the joint, it often loosens up somewhat, though the underlying tightness doesn’t fully go away until the tendon heals. Over time, if tendonitis goes untreated and becomes chronic, the stiffness can become more persistent and harder to relieve with warmth and gentle movement.
Crackling or Popping Sensations
Some people with tendonitis hear or feel a crackling, popping, or grating sensation when they move the affected joint. This is sometimes called crepitus. It can feel like sandpaper grinding under the skin, or you might hear faint clicking or crunching sounds. About 41% of people experience some form of crepitus in their knees alone, and while joint popping is often harmless on its own (similar to cracking your knuckles), it becomes more significant when it’s accompanied by pain.
If you’re feeling a pop or crunch in a joint that also hurts, is swollen, and feels stiff, that combination points toward an inflamed tendon rather than the normal harmless clicking that joints sometimes make.
Acute Tendonitis vs. Chronic Tendon Problems
These four symptoms look a bit different depending on whether the problem is new or has been building for months. Acute tendonitis involves active inflammation: the swelling is more obvious, the area may feel warm, and pain is closely tied to specific movements. This is the version most people think of, and it often responds well to rest, ice, and reducing the activity that triggered it.
Chronic tendon problems, sometimes called tendinosis, involve ongoing degeneration of the tendon tissue rather than fresh inflammation. The symptoms shift: you may notice more of a burning sensation, a persistent decrease in range of motion, and sometimes a tender lump in the affected area where the tendon has thickened. Pain with tendinosis tends to linger after activity rather than only during it. It’s important to recognize the difference because chronic tendon injuries take significantly longer to heal. Complete symptom resolution can take more than six months, even with consistent physical therapy and activity modification.
Signs That Point to Something More Serious
Tendonitis symptoms are uncomfortable but generally manageable. A tendon rupture, which is a partial or complete tear, feels dramatically different. People with a ruptured Achilles tendon, for example, often describe hearing an audible pop or snap, feeling like they were kicked in the back of the leg, and immediately losing the ability to push off or rise onto their toes. With a rupture, the swelling is usually more severe, and a doctor can sometimes feel a gap or divot along the tendon where the tear occurred.
If your symptoms came on suddenly during intense activity, you heard a popping sound, and you can’t use the joint at all afterward, that pattern suggests a tear rather than tendonitis. Tendonitis builds gradually, worsens over days or weeks, and leaves you with a sore but still partially functional joint. A rupture is sudden and often disabling.