Antibiotics effects on Tendons and Ligaments

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a1kershaw
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:31 pm

Antibiotics effects on Tendons and Ligaments

Post by a1kershaw »

Hi Bernie, I have a student who told me she had to be on a course of Cipro for several weeks for a severe infection a few years ago. She said she lost a lot of flexibility following that and the FDA has now issued a warning about that particular group of antibiotics saying they can cause ligament and tendon damage. She said she feels like her ligaments are made of steel. I read that the drugs can cause some tendinopathy. Do you have any insight into this and how one would tailor a Yin practice. She says the practice helps her a lot but I want to be sure she isn't going to go too far or would love to give her specific suggestions for her practice. It is the opposite of people who have joint laxity which we are pretty familiar with now. These were a traditionally widely prescribed family of medications which I believe are still frequently used.
Bernie
Posts: 1292
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Antibiotics effects on Tendons and Ligaments

Post by Bernie »

Thanks for raising this point: it has been known for twenty years that some antibiotics like ciprofloxacin can weaken collagen. I am sorry to hear that your student is suffering from this effect. (You have motivated me to write an article on this topic, as it is probably not widely known that some antibiotics can weaken fascia and lead to tendon rupturing and other problems.) Given that your student has suffered this, your question is — how can she regain her lost flexibility?

I do believe yin yoga can help, but I cannot cite any specific studies that show yin yoga will reverse the effects of antibiotics (because I don't believe this has been studied). I can only offer this hypothesis: since some antibiotics act to degrade the collagen in ligaments and tendons, stresses like those created in a yin yoga practice which stimulate collagen deposition should help to rebuild these structures.

For your student, a generalized yin yoga practice should be fine, as long as you teach her to pay attention to any signals the body may give her that she is staying too long in a pose, or going too far. She should be alert to any tweaks or little pains while she is in the pose, when she comes out of the pose or over the next day or two. If these do arise, she will need to back off in both time and depth of pose. As long as she is not experiencing any pain, she shouldn't be in any danger. Remember, we play the edges in yin yoga: there is no need to go to a maximum depth in a pose. Time is important than intensity. By avoiding really deep positions, she should be quite safe.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Bernie
Last edited by Bernie on Mon Dec 19, 2022 7:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
a1kershaw
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2015 10:31 pm

Re: Antibiotics effects on Tendons and Ligaments

Post by a1kershaw »

Thank you so much! And I’m really glad you wrote the article, which I just read. So much excellent information as always. My student interestingly works in the pharmaceutical industry and she said “working in drug development you learn that there is no truly safe drug.”
She also said she has a UBC student with CF who has the same problem and has to be on this medication long term. However despite the side effects it helped him survive a very difficult childhood. Definitely a two edged sword.
Thank you again for your comprehensive overview of this.
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