Physical Therapy Treatment for Shoulder Tendonitis

The shoulders are some of the most used joints in the human body because the arms and upper back are necessary for so many movements and activities. This makes the shoulders especially prone to tendinitis, a condition in which tendons become irritated and inflamed from stress and overuse. Tendinitis of the shoulder can easily be treated with physical therapy.

Isometric Exercise

• Do exercises that use gravity and isometrics instead of weights to strengthen and stretch the tendons and connected muscles. Weights need to be avoided because they put too much stress on the inflamed tendon. A good exercise to try is bending over enough to let your arms hang down freely (as if you're reaching to the floor). Slowly swing your arms forward and then backward. The weight of the arm will stretch the tendon out very gently.

Range of Motion Exercise

• Make a physical therapy regimen that moves the shoulder through its full range. There are four major tendons in the shoulder, and in order for the shoulder to heal properly, all of them need to be stretched and worked so that the shoulder remains balanced and aligned. A simple plan might include the following exercises, for example:

  1. Bring the shoulder up as far as you can, then rotate it forward, down, back and up into the starting position. Reverse the direction.

  2. Lying on your side, bend your free (top) arm at a 90-degree angle, keeping the hand palm down. Lift the arm up only to shoulder level, then bring it back down. Switch sides and repeat the exercise if the tendinitis is in both shoulders.

  3. Standing up, reach across the body slightly and then lift the arm to shoulder level, following a line of 45 degrees. Slowly bring the shoulder back down.

RICE

• Supplement your physical therapy with the R.I.C.E. method. This method uses rest, ice, compression and elevation to minimize swelling and pain. Some physical therapists also add another "R" to this method, which stands for referral--you should see your doctor whenever pain from the tendinitis worsens or doesn't get better with home treatment.

Massage

• Oxygen is needed for the body to heal. Blood is what carries oxygen to injured tissue. When you have shoulder tendinitis, have a massage therapist (or even a spouse or good friend) rub the shoulder area to relax the muscles and stimulate blood flow to the injured area. Doing this before exercises can help "warm up" the shoulder and let the tendons stretch out before use, which can help prevent further injury.