Sorry to hear about your tendonitis. I know how frustrating that can be. I am not a PT, but do have lots of experience with injuries from both my past profession (stuntwoman) and past and present sports activities and hobbies. I had chronic tendonitis in my left foot, and to a lesser degree, my right foot for years. I used to be a fighter (kickboxer) in my younger days. Because I started competing so late in life - I was in my late 20's and everyone else was a good six to nine years younger than me - I trained longer and harder than anyone else. As a result, I developed tendonitis in both my feet and one of my shoulders. Some things I learned from my PT, my doctor, but mostly from trial and error:

1. ICE IMMEDIATELY after you realize you're injured. This constricts blood flow in the local blood vessels, lessens swelling, decreases cell metabolism which can lessen hemorrhaging and cell death, and also helps with pain.

2. After the initial 24 - 48 hour period of icing, you can alternate ice with heat. Go for 20 minutes each alternating. Do this as often as possible and as long as possible. What you're doing is dilating and constricting the blood vessels which helps flush blood through the injury site as well as force pooling waste products out. All of which will help with healing.

3. I'm sure you already know this, but never ice for longer than 20 -30 minutes at a time. And when you ice, go for the numbness phase. Most people don't ice this aggressively since you have to go through the painful stage to get to the numbness stage. The stages go something like this:

Stage 1 - Cold
Stage 2 - Burning/Pricking
Stage 3 - Aching/Pain
Stage 4 - Numbness
Stage 5 - Reactive Vasodilation

This last stage is the stage at which your blood vessels start to reopen and flush the area with warm blood again. In essence, your body perceives it to be freezing and is trying to warm up the freezing tissue. This stage happens at about 20 - 30 minutes and is why you shouldn't ice longer than that since you will cease to gain the benefits of ice therapy at this point.

4. Don't stretch unless the doctor or PT tells you to. Stretching too early in the healing process will only tear up the fibers that are trying to build up to heal the injury. In the beginning the fibers will lay down a willy nilly patchwork of threads to shore up the site. After a time, the body will then start to lay down those fibers in a more structured pattern. Until then, it is my feeling that you should not stretch, but only your doctor or PT will be able to judge that properly.

5. Rest is best for new tendon injuries. Resist the urge to do more just because it doesn't hurt. It takes FOREVER for tendon injuries to heal. Depending on the severity, you're looking at months of recovery time. Tendons have poor blood supply and thus heal slowly. It all depends on the severity of damage too. I continued to fight on very injured tendons - to the point I could barely walk. That stupidity earned me about nine months of recovery - which was initially estimated at one year (!), but I fast-tracked it.

6. This is optional, but I always take large doses of Glucosamine, Chondroitins and MSM. I'm 44 and my body has had an incredible amount of hard use so for me, it's necessary to keep everything lubed up and flexible. Supplements may only give you 10%, but at my age and with my body, I'll take it.

And a word about Ibuprofen - it's extremely hard on your kidneys. And when I say extremely, I mean extremely. I used to use it instead of the more hardcore painkillers/anti-inflams, but learned from a pharmacist friend that it's incredibly hard on your kidneys - so much so that she won't take it. Also learned from another friend that her finacee - who'd just had open heart surgery - went into near renal failure from the large doses of (prescribed) Ibuprofen he was taking for pain. It is a personal choice and everyone has to make their own decision on what they are and aren't comfortable taking. I'm one of those people who won't even take aspirin unless I absolutely have to. So I am probably a little weird in that regard. However, after doing some research on the effects of Ibuprofen on your kidneys, I have made the choice to avoid using it.

Good luck with your recovery!