Viscoelasticity in tendon protects against all forms of mechanical fatigue regardless of magnitude or frequency of load.

Viscoelastic creep causes time-dependent elongation; if repair lags behind micro-damage accumulation—especially in poorly vascularized regions—localized tendinopathy may occur.

Viscoelastic creep leads to sustained strain and redistribution of load, minimizing micro-damage and stimulating hyaline cartilage transformation.

Stress relaxation in tendon viscoelasticity results in increased instantaneous stiffness and reduced overall deformation under constant strain.