Hoboken Gardener Reaps Benefits of Tenex Treatment for Tendonitis

Photo Credit: Richelle Szypulski Photography

For four years, Melissa Broder experienced on-and-off shooting pain down her right arm. 

“It felt like nerve pain,” recalls Melissa, the 65-year-old resident of Hoboken. “It would buzz down my arm, and feel so uncomfortable. It would go away, then come back.”

Diagnosed with tendonitis in 2021, Melissa struggled to do two things she loves the most: gardening and acting.

“I’d wear an elbow brace under my costume when performing,” she says. “I’d worry through a show, ‘Am I going to be able to sing and do the choreography without the pain reappearing?”

Melissa cut back on her gardening, but nothing gave her long-term relief from the discomfort— not cortisone injections or physical therapy. In 2022, she decided to have elbow surgery. But she canceled two weeks before because the pain faded.

“It disappeared for an entire year, but it came back with a vengeance in 2024,” Melissa recalls.

A Minimally Invasive Alternative to Surgery

That fall, after another course of therapy failed to provide relief, Melissa was referred to a new orthopedic surgeon, Siddhant Mehta, M.D., for a surgical consultation.

“I was desperate, willing to have surgery,” she says. “I needed a permanent solution.”

Dr. Mehta thought his colleague, Ferheen Shamim, M.D., could help with a less invasive procedure. He sent Melissa to meet Dr. Shamim on the very same day. Dr. Shamim performed an ultrasound, which confirmed Melissa’s MRI results. She had a partial tear in her elbow tendon, probably from repetitive movements. The ultrasound also showed dead tendon tissue caused by micro-tears.

“With overuse injury, sometimes micro-tears develop,” Dr. Shamim says. “It causes irritation in the midst of healthy tissue, causing pain to persist.”

Dr. Shamim recommended Tenex, a minimally invasive treatment for tendon pain.

“Dr. Shamim said that she thought she could cure me,” Melissa says. “I was literally in tears, thinking, ‘How is that possible?’”

One week later, Melissa went to Palisades Medical Center for the Tenex procedure. She knew exactly what to expect.

“Dr. Shamim was incredibly clear, one of the most easy-to-understand doctors I’ve ever seen,” Melissa says.

During the procedure, Dr. Shamim made a tiny incision in Melissa’s elbow. She used an ultrasound to pinpoint dead tendon tissue, then remove it.

“I use a device the size of a needle to suction out loose, dead tissue without harming healthy tissue around it,” Dr. Shamim says. “It reduces tendon irritation and creates a bit of bleeding, to stimulate healing.”

Dr. Shamim told Melissa she might be uncomfortable for three days. And she limited her lifting for the next six weeks.

“The first day, I was so numb, I didn’t feel anything,” Melissa says. “The second day, I was a little stiff, and that was it. After that, each week was better than the one before."

Photo credit: Shannon Rakow Photography

Getting Back to Her Hobbies

Melissa was amazed at how good she felt after the procedure. “I’ve had not one twinge of discomfort,” she says.

Melissa’s elbow improved so much that she started gardening on her own terms again.

“Last fall, I was in such bad shape, I asked a friend to help put my garden to bed,” she says. “This spring, I’ve been lifting, pulling, cutting, doing more than I have in years.” She was also recently cast in a physically demanding comedic role in a New York City show, an opportunity she would have had to decline before her procedure.

Tenex may improve tendonitis of the elbow, shoulder, hip and knee.

“You can achieve the same result without surgery, with a much shorter recovery,” Dr. Shamim says. “It has an 85 percent cure rate from a 10-minute procedure.”

Melissa has so much faith in Dr. Shamim, she says she would trust her for any other orthopedic issues.

“Dr. Shamim is really something special,” says Melissa. “Finding a solution for a long-term problem that I thought I’d be plagued with for the rest of my life is truly life-changing.” 

Next Steps & Resources

• Meet our sources: Siddhant Mehta, M.D., and Ferheen Shamim, M.D.
• Make an appointment online with a doctor near you, or call 800-822-8905. 
• Learn more about orthopedics at Hackensack Meridian Health.