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.
Biceps Tendonitis
July 10, 2007
The muscle in the front of our upper arms, known as the biceps, help to keep the upper arm bone or the humerus in place, in the shoulder socket. Not only does it keep it in a stable position but it also helps us play sports like tennis or pitching. It helps to speed up and slow down the arm during movements where the arm is overhead. The bicep muscles in our shoulders are connected with hard, cord-like structures called tendons. They connect one end of the bicep muscles to the shoulder in two places. Tendons then connect the bicep muscles to the much smaller bone in the lower arm called the radius at the other end of the muscle. Inflammation or irritation of the tendons is known as a condition called tendonitis.
Signs and symptoms There are many injuries that can occur around the bicep tendons. The most common cause of tendonitis in the biceps is by recurring overhead activity. The symptoms of this injury are: § A pain in the arm when it is overhead or bent in a different direction. § A local softness over the groove in the upper arm bone as a tendon passes over. § A short snap in the shoulder area or an unusual feeling in the shoulder area. Diagnosis and treatment There are a lot of signs to know if you have bicep tendonitis. You may be given a physical examination by your local doctor, where they will check the shoulder area for how soft the shoulder is, if there is any indication of instability in the shoulder or for a range of motion.
Your doctor might also ask you to hold your arm in the air or rotate the arm backwards and forwards. If a diagnosis cannot be found then an x-ray will be requested to see if there are any conditions that might be causing the irritation. An MRI scan may also be requested by your doctor to check for any damage to the tendons. The tendon could deteriorate over time. This comes with age, overusing the tendon and muscle and also stress can make it damaged. There might not be any inflammation present at this point.
The first treatment is a traditional method. The doctor will ask you to rest the arm and shoulder fro a few days. You might have to try a different sport out for a while just while you build up strength in the muscles again. Anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen and ice packs can also help reduce the inflammation of the tendon. A stretching and continuing to strengthen the muscle may also be a good way to the restore the range of motion. Then after while you should be able to get back to the activities you had to give up when you where diagnosed with tendonitis of the biceps.