Need to Know About Rotator Cuff Tendinitis

What is Rotator Cuff Tendinitis?

Rotator Cuff Tendinitis, or tendonitis, commonly caused by inflamed tendons or torn tendons. It affects the muscles and tendons which help in moving your shoulder joint. Biologically, its name is impingement syndrome. As the person gets older, it is more likely, he will get rotator cuff tendinitis. If it is not treated properly, it can lead to stiffness and weakness in the shoulder.

The rotator cuff consists of four types of muscles subscapularis, teres minor, infraspinatus, and supraspinatus. These muscles surround the shoulder blade and attach to the humerus (upper arm) via their own tendon. These tendons form a cuff or covering of humerus to lift and rotate your arm. Thus, any distortion in this architecture can cause rotator cuff pain.

Rotator Cuff Tendinitis

Symptoms of Rotator Cuff Tendinitis:

At the initial level of the Rotator Cuff Tendinitis, the patient can suffer pain in the outer part of his upper arm, and in the front & top of the shoulder. Initially, the symptoms could be mild, these are:

1. Tenderness and swelling in shoulder’s front.
2. Immense Pain in lifting heavy objects.
3. Loss of mobility and range of the arm
4. Loss of strength.

How is Rotator Cuff Tendinitis Diagnose?

You should visit your doctor if you are having symptoms of rotator cuff tendinitis. The doctor will begin by examining the shoulder. Consequently, he will see where the patient is feeling pain and tenderness. The doctor will also test the range of motion by moving the arm in certain directions.

The surgeon will check the strength of the shoulder joint by pressing it against the hand. The diagnosis process also includes the checkup of neck to check for pinched nerve or arthritis that can cause rotator cuff tendinitis like symptoms.

Treatments of Rotator Cuff Tendinitis:

Non-surgical treatments:

The initial non-surgical treatments of rotator cuff tendinitis involve reducing swelling and pain to maximum level, to promote healing. It includes:

• Avoiding pain-causing activities
• Applying cold packs on the shoulder.
• Inhalation of NSAIDs like Advil (ibuprofen) and Aleve (naproxen)

The non-surgical treatments include consulting a physical therapist. It includes stretching and other light passive exercises for restoring motion and range. If it is unable to give effective results then the doctor may recommend steroid injections, into the tendon causing inflammation, to reduce pain.

Surgical Treatments:

If the conventional non-surgical methods went in vain to give you the proper results, then the option left is to undergo surgical treatment.

Generally, arthroscopy is one of the most noninvasive techniques of shoulder surgery. In this, two or three tiny cuts are done around the shoulder, through which the surgeon will insert the instruments, including the camera to view the damaged tissues and to guide the instruments.

In extreme cases, the open shoulder surgery is required when there are other problems in the shoulder, for instance, large tendon tear.

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