Supraspinatus Healing

The supraspinatus muscle lies atop the shoulder blade and attaches with the supraspinatus tendon at the humerus bone. This tendon is one of four involved in the rotator cuff of the shoulder. The rotator cuff is a combination of muscles and tendons that hold the upper arm in the shoulder joint. Any of these parts may become inflamed, tear or rupture because of injury. Healing may be prolonged and in some cases involve surgical repair. (See References 1)

Causes of Injury

• According to the "Merck Manual of Medical Information," particular movements can contribute to supraspinatus injury. These include sports that involve moving the arm over the head repeatedly, like pitching balls, lifting weights and certain types of swimming strokes. These kinds of movement make the top of the arm bone rub against the joint of the shoulder and eventually tear some of the tendon fibers. If you keep up or overdo these actions, real tears or ruptures can happen. Amateur athletes and weekend sports enthusiasts are particularly prone to this problem since they often do not spend enough time in building up the shoulder and arm muscles. Heavy falls or backwards arm twisting movements are another contributory cause.

Non-Surgical Treatment and Healing

• Methods of treatment depend on the severity of the condition. Mild injuries, particularly those involving only inflammation may benefit from immediate icing followed later by heat coupled with rest of the injured arm. Later exercises involving using an elastic cord attached to a fixed object and starting with the arm holding the other end of the cord by the side, forearm parallel to the floor. Move the arm first forward, then backward, then rotated away from the chest and finally back across the chest. This can strengthen the rotator cuff and prevent further injury while the tendon problem heals. See a doctor for any persistent pain.

  If the tendon tears, M. Cumpston in "Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews" described a drug treatment in a meta analysis article. This study tested the application of topical glyceryl trintrate and found some pain reduction in some patients with the primary side effect being headaches. The study concluded there was insufficient evidence about the long-term benefits and needed further research.

  According to an Aug. 2009 article by E. Maman in "The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery" non-surgical treatment of partial tears can lead a reduction of the tear in some cases, particularly if the patient is younger than sixty. However, 52 percent of these tears increased. In the case of full-thickness tears, atrophy of the supraspinatus occurred in 24 percent of the patients studied.

Surgical Treatment and Healing

• According to an article by M. J. DeFranco in the November-December 2007 issue of the "Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery," surgery using arthroscopic methods can have excellent results. However, poor healing and re-tears may occur in a number of cases.