Supraspinatus Tendonitis

eazy57

eazy57

Moderator
Hey there all,

My wife has had an issue with a repetitive strain injury to her shoulder since January. Since she has been diagnosed with supraspinatus tendinitis.

She's been going through physio on her own and through WSIB. At one point they did ultrasound treatments which seemed to work temporarily. 10 months later, through all the physio, medication (naproxen) exercises, ergonomic assessments, etc. she feels like it's not getting better. I told her if it's been 10 months and your not getting better, something isn't right and it's not working.

Any suggestions as to exercise/rehab/physio that shae can try?

Also, medical professionals are reticent to discuss any vitamins or supplements as they are quick to write a prescription. Always leaning to reactive medicine over proactive medicine.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
I would guess peptides from what others say but I've never tried them. What has always worked for me is just simple rest. Staying off it amd not exercising for 6 weeks to 12 even followed by adding in low weight exercises.
 
Just for shits and giggles look at costochondral junction. Pec minor inflammation and coracobrachialis, all strongly affect the shoulder girdle and attachments. Rounded shoulders and pain around the scapula etc.... I've had extensive shoulder re-construction. Just a suggestion to investigate. No stone unturned!!

Ice has been more help than anything. Amazon has some unbelievable shoulder girdle/ice pack saddles that cover the entire area.
 
My experience is very involved but maybe there is something you can take from it.
Multiple surgeries on both side, mostly stemming from trauma outside of gym. The most relevant here stemming originally from impingement of supraspinatus/infraspinatus.
Acromioplasty done to relieve impingement but left with tendinosis including of long head of the biceps which is mainly where the pain is. If I really baby it for a while it becomes very tolerable but that means being very inactive, no gym approaching anything serious. Not a fan.

Over the past 20 years three things have had a lasting positive effect, meaning almost completely eliminating any pain and dysfunction. All three require a very skilled practitioner and two are very expensive due to multiple (20+?) treatments.

Prolotherapy - The best result. Approx 6ml in 50-100? shots each treatment all around shoulder, some with a 3 inch needle buried all the way into capsule. Not for the faint of heart by any means. Receiving the treatment is like an athletic event and a test of pain endurance. The good news is it made me symptom free for abut a year and a half. Could go balls out in the gym with no pain. Fucking expensive and I'm guessing very hard to find a great Dr. Mine has passed on.

Shockwave Therapy - Was very impressed by this one too. Multiple treatments, expensive. Almost symptom free for about a year.

Cortisone shots - My go to. Have it about once every nine months lately. Very effective. There is a common thought that there is a limit of X times per lifetime or per year or per whatever time. I've been using this for 30 years or so and and followed the conversation around it all that time. Watched the "max" recommended frequency drop from 3 in a lifetime down to unlimited by some some institutions. The original, persistent argument or caution about them is that they damage the tissue. This was shown a long time ago to be caused almost entirely by the anesthetic most commonly used in the US but as is often the case it is taking some time to change the outdated thinking. I can't remember the name, it begins with a B but is not what we use in Canada.

Currently on my second run of lower dose BPC157, 0.67mg daily this time. Two months in this time and feeling some relief. Might be less results due to my low dose or just that BPC is not a fit for everything. Not cheap either but I'm considering extending this run, maybe at a higher dose.

Oops I just reread your post and I missed your most direct question - Any suggestions as to exercise/rehab/physio that shae can try?

First make sure to get a correct diagnosis, maybe a second opinion is in order.
Second IME the physio for all tendon issues should include a hefty percentage of ECCENTRIC ONLY weighted movements that start out VERY light.
 
Here is my crazy thought.

For years I had shoulder pain, tendinitis in my shoulders and such. So to fix an unrelated issue (trapped nerve in my mid trap) I started to go to deep tissue massage therapy. And you know my shoulder pain has also disappeared.

My thought it when we have bad movement brought upon by tight muscles then we create other issues. So for example, your traps and chest is so tight you don’t move your shoulders in the proper motion and get impingements because of the improper movement. So really the issue had nothing to do with the shoulder itself, but not moving in the proper fashion that caused the shoulder issues.

I sometimes get upper bicep tendon pain becasue my biceps are tight. Get them worked out over a couple session and the upper bicep tendon pain (which is in the front head of the shoulder) goes away. So seems like a shoulder issue but had nothing to do with the shoulder.
 
Morning @eazy57 - for the first time in my life I ended up with something very similar and the pain was debilitating. It was caused by an injury but no tears confirmed by a MRI. It would take quote a while to write it out so I will cole notes what I did and am back to 95%. I did aggravate it again but nothing like the first time.
1. Rest for a few days and just try to get the inflammation down. I used dexamethasone for 5 days under the guidance of an orthopaedic surgeon and did the IM injections myself. The pain relief was significant.
2. Active healing after visiting a therapist who was a powerlifter and gave me 5 exercises to do each day because most of my issues with healing were posture related. The exercises made me aware of my posture and how to correct it. I still do them as a 'warm up' prior to lifting anything.
3. Start back after some time off (weeks to months) - with very low weight and build on each workout pending the pain didn't increase and I was healing.
4. Heat and ice helped but no idea if they really did anything. I used BPC157 and TB500 for 2 months with a slin pin because of frustration and hope.


The main benefit was learning better technique with certain lifts (he is a powerlifter) and my shoulder position was getting pulled out of alignment so I lowered my weight and made sure it was correct. Sitting at the office I made sure I closed my door and did a few of the exercises every hour to ensure I kept proper posture and shoulder position. It all came down to holding my shoulders right. It was amazing - no weight and I couldn't do the 'physio' without shaking because my muscles were not use to the work. Now I can rip through the 5 exercises without a break and the muscles are strong enough and used to it. I am still very cognizant of my shoulder position with OHP, curls, upright rows, etc.

Best of luck for her.
 
gondar1 said:
My experience is very involved but maybe there is something you can take from it.
Multiple surgeries on both side, mostly stemming from trauma outside of gym. The most relevant here stemming originally from impingement of supraspinatus/infraspinatus.
Acromioplasty done to relieve impingement but left with tendinosis including of long head of the biceps which is mainly where the pain is. If I really baby it for a while it becomes very tolerable but that means being very inactive, no gym approaching anything serious. Not a fan.

Over the past 20 years three things have had a lasting positive effect, meaning almost completely eliminating any pain and dysfunction. All three require a very skilled practitioner and two are very expensive due to multiple (20+?) treatments.

Prolotherapy - The best result. Approx 6ml in 50-100? shots each treatment all around shoulder, some with a 3 inch needle buried all the way into capsule. Not for the faint of heart by any means. Receiving the treatment is like an athletic event and a test of pain endurance. The good news is it made me symptom free for abut a year and a half. Could go balls out in the gym with no pain. Fucking expensive and I'm guessing very hard to find a great Dr. Mine has passed on.

Shockwave Therapy - Was very impressed by this one too. Multiple treatments, expensive. Almost symptom free for about a year.

Cortisone shots - My go to. Have it about once every nine months lately. Very effective. There is a common thought that there is a limit of X times per lifetime or per year or per whatever time. I've been using this for 30 years or so and and followed the conversation around it all that time. Watched the "max" recommended frequency drop from 3 in a lifetime down to unlimited by some some institutions. The original, persistent argument or caution about them is that they damage the tissue. This was shown a long time ago to be caused almost entirely by the anesthetic most commonly used in the US but as is often the case it is taking some time to change the outdated thinking. I can't remember the name, it begins with a B but is not what we use in Canada.

Currently on my second run of lower dose BPC157, 0.67mg daily this time. Two months in this time and feeling some relief. Might be less results due to my low dose or just that BPC is not a fit for everything. Not cheap either but I'm considering extending this run, maybe at a higher dose.

Oops I just reread your post and I missed your most direct question - Any suggestions as to exercise/rehab/physio that shae can try?

First make sure to get a correct diagnosis, maybe a second opinion is in order.
Second IME the physio for all tendon issues should include a hefty percentage of ECCENTRIC ONLY weighted movements that start out VERY light.
Click to expand...
Bupivacaine. That's all I have because I have lucked out with my shoulders.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top