Cuff tendonitis is painful inflammation of the shoulder joint tendons. Pain, swelling and irritation occur in these tendons with excessive overuse. Ruptured tendons and tiny tears of the tendons caused by injuries can cause tendonitis.
Minor cases of tendonitis can be treated by taking pain relievers like ibuprofen that also reduce swelling. The application of ice packs can also be helpful for cuff tendonitis caused by sudden injury. The ice will relieve or reduce pain, bruising, and swelling.
Occasionally, you may use ice or cold packs within the first seventy-two hours after incurring an injury. If activity causes a reoccurrence of symptoms, you may wish to apply cold applications for fifteen minutes every so often. However, you should only use heat applications when there is no swelling, since heat tends to irritate the problem. After the swelling has disappeared, you may wish to undergo physical therapy exercises as well.
If rhythmic movement should cause cuff tendonitis, cease the activity until after allowing the tendons to heal properly. Physical therapy exercises are ideal during this time, since they help by stretching and strengthening the rotator cuff muscles, which is the goal of physical therapy.
If pain from cuff tendonitis is severe, or if range of motion is restricted, cortisone shots may be administered directly into the shoulder joint in order to reduce pain and inflammation.
Surgeries to remove bone spurs, or repair the tendon or to repair the rotator cuff are necessary, when cuff tendonitis interferes with daily activities if the condition is not healed by other means of treatments.
A procedure known as impingement surgery is sometimes performed if the rotator cuff does not have enough room to rotate freely. This involves removing bone spurs, removing swollen bursa, and possibly shaving down a portion of the bones. To repair the rotator cuff, the surgeon reattaches the torn tendons by sewing them to the bone in the upper arm.
Recovery from cuff tendonitis surgery can be a slow process because tendons in the shoulder area have a normally poor blood supply. The arm is kept in a sling and physical therapy is required to prevent muscle wasting.
Small tendon tears may require arthroscopic surgery. The recovery time is faster and there is less risk of complications, since this procedure requires only a very small incision. A surgeon can repair the tendon while using a minute camera attached to a surgical instrument that is then inserted into the shoulder. He or she will work by watching the feedback from the camera on a video screen.
Rotator cuff surgery is not complicated. It is usually done under general anesthesia, but in some instance, it can be done using local anesthetics and sedatives. The surgery itself takes one to two hours. Complications are not common, but as with any type of surgery, they can occur. These include, bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, and infection.
Cuff tendonitis may be treated successfully at home with the assistance of a physical therapist. This approach is usually tried before resorting to surgery. Surgery is reserved for cases that do not respond to non-invasive treatments or cases that occur as a result of sudden traumatic injury.
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