We've just published a paper showing how creep fatigue damage affects positional tendons, and comparing some of the different methods of analysing local mechanics in samples. We've shown that the cells may not be tightly attached to the matrix, and subsequently shielded from some of the applied strain.

Shepherd JS, Riley GP, Screen HRC (2014) Early stage fatigue damage occurs in bovine tendon fascicles in the absence of changes in mechanics at either the gross or micro-structural level. JMBBM