What is biceps tendonitis
December 26, 2007
What is biceps tendonitis?
Tendons are connective tissue bands that attach muscles to bones. The biceps muscle is located in the front part of the upper arm and attaches at the elbow and in two places at the shoulder. Biceps tendonitis, also called bicipital tendonitis, is inflammation that causes pain in the front part of the shoulder or upper arm.
How does it occur?
Biceps tendonitis occurs from overuse of the arm and shoulder or from an injury to the biceps tendon.
What are the symptoms?
You feel pain when you move your arm and shoulder, especially when you move your arm forward over shoulder height. You feel pain when you touch the front of your shoulder.
How is it diagnosed?
Your health care provider will examine your arm and shoulder for tenderness along the biceps muscle and biceps tendons.
How is it treated?
Treatment may include:
- placing ice packs on your shoulder for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for 2 or 3 days or until the pain goes away
- taking anti-inflammatory medication
- getting an injection of a corticosteroid medication to reduce the inflammation and pain
- doing rehabilitation exercises.
When can I return to my sport or activity?
The goal of rehabilitation is to return you to your sport or activity as soon as is safely possible. If you return too soon you may worsen your injury, which could lead to permanent damage. Everyone recovers from injury at a different rate. Return to your activity will be determined by how soon your shoulder recovers, not by how many days or weeks it has been since your injury occurred. In general, the longer you have symptoms before you start treatment, the longer it will take to get better.
You may safely return to your sport or activity when:
- Your injured shoulder has full range of motion without pain.
- Your injured shoulder has regained normal strength compared to the uninjured shoulder.
In throwing sports, you must gradually rebuild your tolerance to throwing. This means you should start with gentle tossing and gradually throw harder. In contact sports, your shoulder must not be tender to touch and contact should progress from minimal contact to harder contact.
How can I prevent biceps tendonitis?
You can best prevent biceps tendonitis by doing a proper warm-up and stretching exercises for your arm and shoulder before your activity.
Shoulder Tendonitis
December 19, 2007
Rotator cuff tendonitis, calcific tendonitis and biceps tendonitis are the three types of shoulder tendonitis.
The rotator cuff, which has four muscles around the shoulder joint, are meant to control the shoulder’s position and keep it stable and in place. The pain that can be felt in the rotator cuff can be found about three inches below the top of the shoulder and is most commonly felt when reaching over the head or behind the back. The most common cure for the condition is rest. As with most tendonitis injuries that is the most known cure. There are other cures. Another is anti-inflammatory medication, or a course of cortisone and a local anesthetic can be given. The anesthetic can be given into the area around the tendon. Exercising the tendon with weights is another way to cure it and it will help build up strength in the tendon again after the injury.
An x-ray can be used and this might reveal a bony anatomy that has being pinching the rotator cuff tendons. An x-ray may only be given if the pain has not gone after all the above methods have being tried. A bone anatomy occurs between a bone in the top of the shoulder and a ball at the top of arm bone. There is a process called an acromioplasty that can be performed. This procedure will make more room for the rotator cuff tendons.
A steel tube that contains optical fibers, a lens and a light resource, it is inserted into the shoulder and the surgeon is then able to remove some of the bone that is causing a problem from the acromion, through two or three small ¼” incisions.
Another type of tendonitis in the shoulder is calcific tendonitis. This is caused by calcium deposits in the rotator cuff area. The symptoms of the injury is agonizing pain and stern restrictions of movement in the shoulder. Having an x-ray of the tendon will reveal calcium deposits in the rotator cuff or above the head of the humerus. As with Rotator cuff tendonitis, the symptoms are very much the same. Injections of cortisone and a local anesthetic into the tendon area should heal the problem. If this fails then a multiple punch into the calcium deposit should break up the deposit and relieve the problem.
Athletic Achilles Tendonitis
December 9, 2007
Achilles Tendonitis
Achilles tendonitis is one of the more common and difficult injuries to treat in athletes due to the individuals high level of activity and frequent reluctance to decrease or stop training. It is associated with pain in the back of the heel and 1″ to 3″ above it. The range of pain is from burning or prickly to shooting and piercing especially when running “uphill”. The danger is if left unresolved, the fibers of the tissue can become weak and rupture, accompanied by increased swelling and pain.
Some causes of this injury can be:
- Improper shoe selection
- Improper warm-up: lack of flexibility due to lack of stretching (see stretching exercises below)
- Direct trauma.
- Heel bone deformity (seen as a “growth” on the bone)
- Short Achilles (anatomical)
- Over-pronation- excessive inward roll of the foot while walking or running
- Sudden increase in training and excessive hill running
Helpful Tips:
- Avoid hills
- Ice after running
- Decease mileage
Stretching Images:
-hold each stretch for 15 seconds, heel lift(s) under the affected part .
Remember to see your doctor for professional guidance if you suspect that you have Tendonitis.