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Pain Management for a Shoulder Impingement

Shoulder impingement is an injury that involves stiffness or weakness in the shoulder, which is often the result of arthritis and overuse. This injury appears in individuals between 30 and 50 years of age. Various treatments to reduce the pain include drug therapy, physical therapy and surgery. Consult with your doctor for the best therapy or combination of therapies.

  1. Drug Therapy

    • If your doctor diagnoses your shoulder pain and weakness as shoulder impingement, she will provide you with therapeutic injections. According to the article, "Management of Shoulder Impingement Syndrome and Rotator Cuff Tears," published on the American Academy of Family Physicians website, these injections will be lidocaine, a pain suppressant, and a corticosteroid, which also helps with reducing tissue inflammation in the shoulder. The doctor will inject these drugs directly into the tissue and ligaments of the shoulder. Typically, this will be done no more than three times and in combination with physical therapy.

    Physical Therapy

    • To manage the pain further and restore movement to the impinged shoulder, your doctor will also suggest that you limit use of the pained shoulder. You should provide ice compression, alternating with heat, on the shoulder for chronic injuries. If you have an acute injury, avoid heat because this will only increase the inflammation. Simply use ice to treat the pain. For chronic pain, deep-tissue massages are helpful at loosening the shoulder and increasing the range of motion for an impinged shoulder.

      If you have an advanced form of shoulder impingement, your doctor may recommend a formal physical therapy routine. This includes fixed weight (four to eight ounces) exercises, rather than exercises with rubber bands. You will focus on high repetition to increase the shoulder's range of motion and help with pain management.

    Shoulder Surgery

    • If your doctor determines that your shoulder impingement is from an acute injury or a rotator cuff tear, the best means of pain management will be to operate on your shoulder. This will be a last resort that the doctor will consider after exhausting a combination of the above recommended pain management treatments. According to "Management of Shoulder Impingement Syndrome and Rotator Cuff Tears," a doctor will consider surgery if the shoulder impingement has not improved after six months of steady treatment. Shoulder surgery is also preferable for younger patients who have acute tears in their rotator cuff.

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