All You Should Know About Shoulder Impingement and the Healing Process in Shoulder Pain Treatment. Many of you find it hard to differentiate between the rotator cuff problem and the shoulder impingement. The rotator cuff problem happens when the rotator cuff tendon tears or wears down, while the shoulder impingement happens when the rotator cuff tendon gets trapped in the shoulder blade so the tendon eventually gets scrapped and weakens before it starts to tear. The causes of shoulder impingement are bony spurs that are also called protrusions, the overwork with one dominant arm, arthritis, calcium deposits due to degenerate or aging, poor body posture and shoulder muscle control, and bad accidents. The causes are also related to the joint abnormalities even though this case is so rare. The symptoms of this problem are almost similar with tendonitis and bursitis. You will get a red mark if you pinch the painful area and the red mark will turn into blue or purple if you don’t compress it with ice. You also feel a long-term pain and difficult to move or even lift your arm. If you don’t take any medical treatment immediately, the pain will disturb your sleep at night and then make you exhausted.
The early treatment to overcome the symptoms is similar to the shoulder pain treatment. After the diagnosis from your doctor, you will get anti-inflammatory medicines for 2-3 weeks. Along with medicines, it is recommended to do stretching under the physical
therapist supervision. You also should rest your impingement shoulder for a certain time depends on your problem. If the symptoms persist, your doctor may recommend the antiinflammatory injection with cortisone. The injection will be given in a very short time around a week while your doctor examines if there is any infection. If there is any infection, your doctor will advise the right method to treat the problem. If there is no infection, but the symptom persists, then your doctor will recommend surgery to repair your weak tendon. Shoulder impingement surgery is known as decompression operation. The procedure makes room for your trapped tendon before it is free and repairs the weak tendon or if any torn tendon. The goal of the surgery is to relieve you from the constant pain and making you comfortable. The healing process after the surgery is different for each of you. Many of you will need some rest while taking the doctor’s prescription at home. But, there are many cases that you need to stay at the hospital for certain days to make sure that there is no side effect from the surgery. The healing process itself won’t be successful without your cooperation, so you have to follow the course your doctor recommends. If you want to lift something, you can ask your family to do it for you. Most of you can go back to your daily activities without feeling any pain after a month or three months. Some of you in old age may need some time to heal and need physical therapy to gain your shoulder vitality.