Symptoms can vary from an ache or pain and swelling to the local area of the ankles, or a burning that surrounds the whole joint. With this condition, the pain is usually worse during and after activity, and the tendon and joint area can become stiffer the following day as swelling impinges on the movement of the tendon. Many patients report stressful situations in their lives in correlation with the beginnings of pain which may contribute to the symptoms.

The onset of the condition is usually gradual, although some cases may appear suddenly following trauma.

- Knee pain - the most common symptom is diffuse peripatellar pain (vague pain around the kneecap) and localized retropatellar pain (pain focused behind the kneecap). Affected individuals typically have difficulty describing the location of the pain, and may place their hands over the anterior patella or describe a circle around the patella (the "circle sign"). Pain is usually initiated when load is put on the knee extensor mechanism, e.g. ascending or descending stairs or slopes, squatting, kneeling, cycling, running or prolonged sitting with flexed (bent) knees. The latter feature is sometimes termed the "movie sign" or "theatre sign" because individuals might experience pain while sitting to watch a film or similar activity. The pain is typically aching with occasional sharp pains.

- Crepitus (joint noises) may be present

- Giving-way of the knee may be reported

Symptoms can vary from aches or pains and local joint stiffness, to a burning that surrounds the whole joint around the inflamed tendon. In some cases, swelling occurs along with heat and redness, and there may be visible knots surrounding the joint. With this condition, the pain is usually worse during and after activity, and the tendon and joint area can become stiff the following day as muscles tighten from the movement of the tendon. Many patients report stressful situations in their life in correlation with the beginnings of pain which may contribute to the symptoms.

If the symptoms of tendinitis last for several months (6 months) or longer, it is probably tendinosis.

Chondromalacia patellae is a term sometimes treated synonymously with PFPS. However, there is general consensus that PFPS applies only to individuals without cartilage damage, thereby distinguishing it from chondromalacia patellae, a condition characterized by softening of the patellar articular cartilage. Despite this academic distinction, the diagnosis of PFPS is typically made clinically, based only on the history and physical examination rather than on the results of any medical imaging. Therefore, it is unknown whether most persons with a diagnosis of PFPS have cartilage damage or not, making the difference between PFPS and chondromalacia theoretical rather than practical. It is thought that only some individuals with anterior knee pain will have true chondromalacia patellae.

Tendinitis injuries are common in the upper shoulder and lower section of the elbow (including the rotator cuff attachments), and are less common in the hips and torso. Individual variation in frequency and severity of tendinitis will vary depending on the type, frequency and severity of exercise or use; for example, rock climbers tend to develop tendinitis in their fingers or elbows, swimmers in their shoulders. Achilles tendinitis is a common injury, particularly in sports that involve lunging and jumping, while Patellar tendinitis is a common among basketball and volleyball players owing to the amount of jumping and landing.

A veterinary equivalent to Achilles tendinitis is bowed tendon, tendinitis of the superficial digital tendon of the horse.

Jumper's knee (patellar tendinopathy, patellar tendinosis, patellar tendinitis) commonly occurs in athletes who are involved in jumping sports such as basketball and volleyball. Patients report anterior knee pain, often with an aching quality. The symptom onset is insidious. Rarely is a discrete injury described. Usually, involvement is infrapatellar at or near the infrapatellar pole, but it may also be suprapatellar.

Depending on the duration of symptoms, jumper's knee can be classified into 1 of 4 stages, as follows:

Stage 1 – Pain only after activity, without functional impairment

Stage 2 – Pain during and after activity, although the patient is still able to perform satisfactorily in his or her sport

Stage 3 – Prolonged pain during and after activity, with increasing difficulty in performing at a satisfactory level

Stage 4 – Complete tendon tear requiring surgical repair

It begins as inflammation in the patellar tendon where it attaches to the patella and may progress by tearing or degenerating the tendon. Patients present with an ache over the patella tendon. Most patients are between 10 and 16 years old. Magnetic resonance imaging can reveal edema (increased T2 signal intensity) in the proximal aspect of the patellar tendon.

Achilles tendinitis is tendinitis of the Achilles tendon, generally caused by overuse of the affected limb and is more common among athletes training under less than ideal conditions. It should not be confused with xanthoma of the tendon, which is the accumulation of cholesterol in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.

In some cases, an audible snapping or popping noise as the tendon at the hip flexor crease moves from flexion (knee toward waist) to extension (knee down and hip joint straightened). After extended exercise pain or discomfort may be present caused by inflammation of the iliopsoas bursae. Pain often decreases with rest and diminished activity. Symptoms usually last months or years without treatment and can be very painful.

Subacromial bursitis often presents with a constellation of symptoms called impingement syndrome. Pain along the front and side of the shoulder is the most common symptom and may cause weakness and stiffness. If the pain resolves and weakness persists other causes should be evaluated such as a tear of the rotator cuff or a neurological problem arising from the neck or entrapment of the suprascapular nerve. The onset of pain may be sudden or gradual and may or may not be related to trauma. Night time pain, especially sleeping on the affected shoulder, is often reported. Localized redness or swelling are less common and suggest an infected subacromial bursa. Individuals affected by subacromial bursitis commonly present with concomitant shoulder problems such as arthritis, rotator cuff tendinitis, rotator cuff tears, and cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve in neck).

Impingement may be brought on by sports activities, such as overhead throwing sports and swimming, or overhead work such as painting, carpentry, or plumbing. Activities that involve repetitive overhead activity, or directly in front, may cause shoulder pain. Direct upward pressure on the shoulder, such as leaning on an elbow, may increase pain.

Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a condition in which the outer part of the elbow becomes sore and tender at the lateral epicondyle. The forearm muscles and tendons become damaged from repetitive overuse. This leads to pain and tenderness on the outside of the elbow.

Any activity, including playing tennis, that involves repetitive use of the extensor muscles of the forearm can cause acute or chronic tendonitis of the tendinous insertion of these muscles at the lateral epicondyle of the elbow. The condition is common in carpenters and laborers who swing a hammer or other tool with the forearm, and is similar to golfer's elbow, which affects the medial epicondyle on the inside of the elbow. Continuing activity after onset of the condition and avoiding mandatory rest may lead to permanent onset of pain and only treatable via surgery.

Symptoms associated with tennis elbow include, but are not limited to: radiating pain from the outside of the elbow to the forearm and wrist, pain during extension of wrist, weakness of the forearm, a painful grip while shaking hands or torquing a doorknob, and not being able to hold relatively heavy items in the hand. The pain is similar to the condition known as "golfer's elbow", but the latter occurs at the medial side of the elbow.

Many rotator cuff tears are asymptomatic. They are known to increase in frequency with age and the most common cause is age-related degeneration and, less frequently, sports injuries or trauma. Both partial and full thickness tears have been found on "post mortem" and MRI studies in those without any history of shoulder pain or symptoms. However, the most common presentation is shoulder pain or discomfort. This may occur with activity, particularly shoulder activity above the horizontal position, but may also be present at rest in bed. Pain-restricted movement above the horizontal position may be present, as well as weakness with shoulder flexion and abduction.

Symptoms may occur immediately after trauma (acute) or develop over time (chronic).

Acute injury is less frequent than chronic disease, but may follow bouts of forcefully raising the arm against resistance, as occurs in weightlifting, for example. In addition, falling forcefully on the shoulder can cause acute symptoms. These traumatic tears predominantly affect the supraspinatus tendon or the rotator interval and symptoms include severe pain that radiates through the arm, and limited range of motion, specifically during abduction of the shoulder.

Chronic tears occur among individuals who constantly participate in overhead activities, such as pitching or swimming, but can also develop from shoulder tendinitis or rotator cuff disease. Symptoms arising from chronic tears include sporadic worsening of pain, debilitation, and atrophy of the muscles, noticeable pain during rest, crackling sensations (crepitus) when moving the shoulder, and inability to move or lift the arm sufficiently, especially during abduction and flexion motions.

Pain in the anterolateral aspect of the shoulder is not specific to the shoulder, and may arise from, and be referred from, the neck, heart or gut.

Patient history will often include pain or ache over the front and outer aspect of the shoulder, pain aggravated by leaning on the elbow and pushing upwards on the shoulder (such as leaning on the armrest of a reclining chair), intolerance of overhead activity, pain at night when lying directly on the affected shoulder, pain when reaching forward (e.g. unable to lift a gallon of milk from the refrigerator). Weakness may be reported, but is often masked by pain and is usually found only through examination. With longer-standing pain, the shoulder is favored and gradually loss of motion and weakness may develop, which, due to pain and guarding, are often unrecognized by the patient and only brought to attention during examination.

Primary shoulder problems may cause pain over the deltoid muscle intensified by abduction against resistance - the impingement sign. This signifies pain arising from the rotator cuff, but cannot distinguish between inflammation, strain, or tear. Patients may report that they are unable to reach upwards to brush their hair or to lift a food can from an overhead shelf.

Patellar tendinitis (patellar tendinopathy, also known as jumper's knee), is a relatively common cause of pain in the inferior patellar region in athletes. It is common with frequent jumping and studies have shown it may be associated with stiff ankle movement and ankle sprains.

The more common lateral extra articular type of snapping hip syndrome occurs when the iliotibial band, tensor fasciae latae, or gluteus medius tendon slides back and forth across the greater trochanter. This normal action becomes a snapping hip syndrome when one of these connective tissue bands thickens and catches with motion. The underlying bursa may also become inflamed, causing a painful external snapping hip syndrome.

Less commonly, the iliopsoas tendon catches on the anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS), the lesser trochanter, or the iliopectineal ridge during hip extension, as the tendon moves from an anterior lateral (front, side) to a posterior medial (back, middle) position. With overuse, the resultant friction may eventually cause painful symptoms, resulting in muscle trauma, bursitis, or inflammation in the area.

Lameness is most commonly caused by pain, but may also be the result of neuromuscular disease or mechanical restriction. Lameness itself is a clinical sign, and not a diagnosis.

Enthesopathies may take the form of spondyloarthropathies (joint diseases of the spine) such as ankylosing spondylitis, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinitis. Enthesopathy can occur at the elbow, wrist, carpus, hip, knee, ankle, tarsus, or heel bone, among other regions. Further examples include:

- Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder

- Rotator cuff syndrome of shoulder and allied disorders

- Periarthritis of shoulder

- Scapulohumeral fibrositis

- Synovitis of hand or wrist

- Periarthritis of wrist

- Gluteal tendinitis

- Iliac crest spur

- Psoas tendinitis

- Trochanteric tendinitis

In medicine, an enthesopathy refers to a disorder involving the attachment of a tendon or ligament to a bone. This site of attachment is known as the entheses.

If the condition is known to be inflammatory, it can more precisely be called an enthesitis.

As the name implies, movement of the shoulder is severely restricted in people with a "frozen shoulder". This condition, which doctors call adhesive capsulitis, is frequently caused by injury that leads to lack of use due to pain. Rheumatic disease progression and recent shoulder surgery can also cause frozen shoulder. Intermittent periods of use may cause inflammation. Adhesions (abnormal bands of tissue) grow between the joint surfaces, restricting motion. There is also a lack of synovial fluid, which normally lubricates the gap between the arm bone and socket to help the shoulder joint move. It is this restricted space between the capsule and ball of the humerus that distinguishes adhesive capsulitis from a less complicated painful, stiff shoulder. People with diabetes, stroke, lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart disease, or who have been in an accident, are at a higher risk for frozen shoulder. The condition rarely appears in people under the age of 40.

Symptoms can vary from an ache or pain and stiffness to the local area of the tendon, or a burning that surrounds the whole joint around the affected tendon. With this condition, the pain is usually worse during and after activity, and the tendon and joint area can become stiffer the following day as swelling impinges on the movement of the tendon. Many patients report stressful situations in their life in correlation with the beginnings of pain, which may contribute to the symptoms.

Swelling in a region of micro damage or partial tear may be detected visually or by touch.

Subacromial bursitis is a condition caused by inflammation of the bursa that separates the superior surface of the supraspinatus tendon (one of the four tendons of the rotator cuff) from the overlying coraco-acromial ligament, acromion, coracoid (the acromial arch) and from the deep surface of the deltoid muscle. The subacromial bursa helps the motion of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff in activities such as overhead work.

Musculoskeletal complaints are one of the most common reasons for primary care office visits, and rotator cuff disorders are the most common source of shoulder pain.

Primary inflammation of the subacromial bursa is relatively rare and may arise from autoimmune inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis; crystal deposition disorders such as gout or pseudogout; calcific loose bodies, and infection. More commonly, subacromial bursitis arises as a result of complex factors, thought to cause shoulder impingement symptoms. These factors are broadly classified as intrinsic (intratendinous) or extrinsic (extratendinous). They are further divided into primary or secondary causes of impingement. Secondary causes are thought to be part of another process such as shoulder instability or nerve injury.

In 1983 Neer described three stages of impingement syndrome. He noted that "the symptoms and physical signs in all three stages of impingement are almost identical, including the 'impingement sign'..., arc of pain, crepitus, and varying weakness." The Neer classification did not distinguish between partial-thickness and full-thickness rotator cuff tears in stage III. This has led to some controversy about the ability of physical examination tests to accurately diagnose between bursitis, impingement, impingement with or without rotator cuff tear and impingement with partial versus complete tears.

In 2005, Park et al. published their findings which concluded that a combination of clinical tests were more useful than a single physical examination test. For the diagnosis of impingement disease, the best combination of tests were "any degree (of) a positive Hawkins-Kennedy test, a positive painful arc sign, and weakness in external rotation with the arm at the side," to diagnose a full thickness rotator cuff tear, the best combination of tests, when all three are positive, were the painful arc, the drop-arm sign, and weakness in external rotation.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome is associated with pain in the knee and around the patella. It is sometimes referred to as runner's knee, but this term is used for other overuse injuries that involve knee pain as well. It can be caused by a single incident, but is often the result of overuse or a sudden icrease in physical activity.

A shoulder fracture that occurs after a major injury is usually accompanied by severe pain. Within a short time, there may be redness and bruising around the area. Sometimes a fracture is obvious because the bones appear out of position.

(However this occur in non-involved dislocations and separations.) Both diagnosis and severity can be confirmed by x rays.

Lameness is an abnormal gait or stance of an animal that is the result of dysfunction of the locomotor system. In the horse, it is most commonly caused by pain, but can be due to neurologic or mechanical dysfunction. Lameness is a common veterinary problem in racehorses, sport horses, and pleasure horses. It is one of the most costly health problems for the equine industry, both monetarily for the cost of diagnosis and treatment, and for the cost of time off resulting in loss-of-use.

Pain is often aggravated by elevation of the arm above shoulder level or by lying on the shoulder. Pain may awaken the patient from sleep. Other complaints may be stiffness, snapping, catching, or weakness of the shoulder.