Claire gave us permission to share her Instagram post:

Let’s talk about tendinitis shall we? Tendinitis is inflammation of the tendons usually due to repetitive motion and overuse. Yep, probably jewelry related. It’s a pretty common for artists, dentists, and people that use the computer too much. So if that sounds like you, LISTEN UP!

I’ve got it going on in my right wrist mainly, sometimes the left. Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes it feels warm and burny, sometimes crunchy, sometimes it feels like lightning. Sometimes it can be so painful that it hurts to pick up my phone, drive a car or put a fork to my mouth. Basically, it sucks. But I’m dealing with it.

So what do I do about it? I take lots of anti-inflammatories (turmeric and glucosamine capsules every day) and I try and avoid inflammatories like gluten, sugar and alcohol. I don’t cut them out completely, I’m not that disciplined, but I definitely limit them. When I don’t, my tendinitis acts up.

My most special friend in this little journey is puer tea (aka puerh). I drink puer tea ALL DAY, EVERYDAY DAY. And it makes a huge difference. I know this because when I’ve run out for a week or two before resupplying my tendinitis flares up real bad. I recommend it to anyone!

Puer is a fermented, aged black tea. It is anti-inflammatory, helps with digestion, lowers bad cholesterol and raises the good cholesterol, amongst a laundry list of other benefits! It is the least caffeinated out of any of the black teas (for those of you worried about over caffeinating) but some people do use it as a coffee alternative. I highly recommend trying it if you’ve got any sort of inflammation. It’s not cheap, but it’s much cheaper than surgery! And much less painful than a cortisone shot! And it’s just tea so, it can’t hurt. I get mine from purepuer.com whom I discovered at the Sebastopol farmers market in CA. It’s a tiny company owned by the nicest couple!