tendon

Also known as tendons, sinew

A tendon or sinew is a tough band of dense fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tension.

AI overview

A tendon is a tough, fibrous band of tissue that connects your muscles to your bones and transmits the force of muscle contractions to move your skeleton. This makes tendons essential for movement because they allow your muscles to pull on your bones and create the mechanical actions your body needs to function.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Anatomy.Name: Tendon
Anatomy.Latin: tendo
Anatomy.Image: achilles-tendon.jpg
Anatomy.Caption: The Achilles tendon, one of the tendons in the human body (from ''Gray's Anatomy'', 1st ed., 1858)
Anatomy.Image2: Tendon_-_add_-_high_mag.jpg
Anatomy.Caption2: Micrograph of a piece of tendon; H&E stain

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

119,223 papers

Tendon Cell Biology: Effect of Mechanical Loading.ReviewCellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology · 2024Stańczak M, Kacprzak B, Gawda PDOI: 10.33594/000000743
Tendon biomechanics and mechanobiology--a minireview of basic concepts and recent advancements.ReviewJournal of hand therapy : official journal of the American Society of Hand Therapists · 2012Wang JH, Guo Q, Li BDOI: 10.1016/j.jht.2011.07.004
Tendon injury and tendinopathy: healing and repair.ReviewThe Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume · 2005Sharma P, Maffulli NDOI: 10.2106/JBJS.D.01850
Using load to improve tendon/ligament tissue engineering and develop novel treatments for tendinopathy.ReviewMatrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology · 2025Tam KT, Baar KDOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2024.12.001
Tendon injections - upper extremity.ReviewSkeletal radiology · 2023Silva FD, Zorzenoni F, da Silva LNM et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00256-022-04174-7
[Peroneal tendon pathologies : From the diagnosis to treatment].Der Orthopade · 2021Willegger M, Hirtler L, Schwarz GM et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00132-021-04116-6
Imaging Tendon Disorders in Athletes.ReviewClinics in podiatric medicine and surgery · 2023Singh K, Hosseini N, Pooyan A et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.cpm.2022.07.015
Tendon development and diseases.ReviewWiley interdisciplinary reviews. Developmental biology · 2016Gaut L, Duprez DDOI: 10.1002/wdev.201

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Achilo sausgyslė.png

Show 1 more fact

Commons category: Tendons

Sources (8)

via Wikidata · CC0

~28 min read

Article

16 sections

Contents

Structure
Extracellular matrix
Ultrastructure and collagen synthesis
Tenocytes
List of tendons
Functions
Mechanics
Clinical significance
Injury
Healing
Effects of activity on healing
Society and culture
Culinary uses
Other animals
See also
References

Tendons, like ligaments, are made of collagen. The difference is that ligaments connect bone to bone, while tendons connect muscle to bone. There are about 4,000 tendons in the adult human body.