Your tendons connect your muscles to your bones. If you injure or overuse a joint such as the shoulder, the tendons can become inflamed and irritated. When this happens, you can get tendinitis. In the shoulder joint, you can get biceps tendinitis, which is an irritation of the tendons that connect the biceps muscle in the front upper part of the arm to the shoulder bones. The tendons in the rotator cuff area of the shoulder can also develop this condition. The first step in preventing and managing this injury is to know the common causes of shoulder tendinitis.
Overuse
Tendinitis is most commonly caused due to overuse or repetitive motions of the shoulder joint, says the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. If you play sports or have a job that requires you to use your shoulder joint a lot, you are more prone to tendinitis. This includes activities such as throwing, gardening, using hand tools, swimming and golfing. If you constantly need to reach, push or pull you may overstretch the tendons in the shoulder and cause tendinitis. If your tendinitis is mild it means that you have just overstretched the tendon. In more severe cases or if you ignore the early warning signs, the tendon can tear or rupture completely. Learning how to work or participate in your favorite sports without stressing the shoulder joint will be necessary to help you injury heal and prevent future problems.
Age
According to the Cleveland Clinic, your risk of shoulder tendinitis increases after age 40. With age and normal wear and tear your tendons become less elastic. This means that they can tear more easily then when you were younger. Even if you do not play sports or work in a job where you use your arms, over-reaching or twisting the wrong way just once can cause shoulder tendinitis. In many cases, this condition will heal on its own if you allow it to rest.
Weak and Tight Shoulder Muscles
If the muscles that help to move your shoulder joint to move become deconditoned or weak, there will be more stress placed on the shoulder joint. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine claims that this occurs because weaker muscles are less able to stabilize the shoulder joint properly. In addition, the tighter your muscles are the more prone you are to overstretch or tear a tendon. Your physical therapist can help you to develop a safe and effective strength training and stretching program based on your injury and types of activities you do.
