Cures for Shoulder Tendonitis

Tendinitis can affect almost any tendon in the body, but it's most prevalent within any limb that sustains a great deal of use. Repetitively moving your arms or legs makes the tendons of these appendages increasingly susceptible to the irritation and inflammation associated with the condition. One such area that seems to get the brunt of this "wear and tear" is the shoulder. Fortunately, there are a number of treatments to help ease the discomfort that often comes with this inflammatory condition.

Self-Care Cures

• For most people with tendinitis, all they really need to do to "cure" this uncomfortable condition is to employ a few self-care measures. As soon as you experience the pain and discomfort associated with tendinitis, ice your shoulder. By applying ice, you're lessening inflammation within the injured area and reducing the signs of pain. And much like any other injury, keep the ice on for no more than 20 minute intervals. Leaving the ice on for any longer could exacerbate an already troubling condition.

  After you've iced the affected shoulder, wrap the area with an elastic bandage. This process serves two very specific purposes. Not only does it immobilize the shoulder to allow for proper healing, but it also helps alleviate the swelling by lightly compressing the area. Without compression, you could find that the inflammation of the tendon limits the range of motion within your shoulder.

  To further ensure proper healing, use the immobilization to your advantage and rest your shoulder. While icing and wrapping are crucial, rest is probably the most effective and vital measure you can use with shoulder tendinitis. However, rest doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't physically move this area of the body. You need to maintain both the strength and the flexibility of your shoulder, so stick to activities that don't strain or irritate this region.

  As you allow the area to mend itself, feel free to take over-the-counter pain relievers, like acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin. These types medication reduce both inflammation and pain associated with this particular condition.

Medical Treatment

• When icing, wrapping and rest fail to get results, a doctor commonly recommends a more aggressive approach to care for your shoulder. Frequently, corticosteroid injections are administered to better manage inflammation and thereby reduce or lighten the signs of pain. But your doctor may also recommend some physical therapy. Physical therapist can design a program of exercise to both strengthen and increase the flexibility of your shoulder. And in much more severe cases of the condition, a surgical procedure may be needed to repair the tear or rupture within the tendon.