Fig. 3.

Synchrotron nano-X-ray diffraction measurements across the mineral gradient showed that the FWHM of the azimuthal peak which is inversely proportional to the mineral alignment, decreased with increasing mineralization (A). In addition, the crystal size increased with mineralization (B). Unloading significantly affected both measurements, with botox treatment decreasing alignment and crystal size. In both the control and botox samples, the residual strain (C) and strain distribution (D) decrease rapidly within the first 4 μm of the enthesis, followed by a plateau. This suggests that in an ~4 μm area, there is a change in the mechanical environment that results in a more homogeneous compressive residual strain.