Bicep Tendonitis
Tendons, which are what’s involved with bicep tendonitis, are very strong bands of tissue which connect your muscles to your bones. When these tendons are used excessively or injured, inflammation and pain can occur which is referred to as tendonitis or tendinopathy. The most common cause of tendonitis is excessive use over a long period of time. It commonly occurs in the elderly and with athletics due to the excessive use of the body that is associated with sports, especially high level athletics.
Bicep tendonitis which is medically referred to as bicipital tendonitis, is a term used to describe general inflammation, tenderness, or pain around the bicep on the upper arm near the front part of your shoulder. This condition is commonly associated with other injuries and rarely occurs on its own. Bicep tendonitis is usually found along with rotator cuff injuries and even impingement. This is one of the easier types of tendonitis to treat and rarely requires invasive surgery to repair.
Common Causes
- Heavy trauma to the upper arm
- Overuse
- Tendon calcification
- Multidirectional instability
Any injury sustained to the shoulder stabilizers can create problems for other muscles connected to the joint.
Symptoms
- Pain commonly occurs in the evening
- Pain while carrying or lifting things
- You’ll experience pain towards the front of your shoulder when you move your arm. The pain would be more pronounced when lifting your arm up over your shoulder. When you touch the shoulder area you would also experience pain.
Diagnosis
- A doctor would need to examine the arm and shoulder area especially around the bicep muscles and tendons. In some cases the doctor may order x-rays, ultrasounds, or an MRI. This type of injury does not normally require surgery.
Treatment
- Activity would need to be modified to allow more rest. If the area is inflamed steps wold be taken to bring the inflammation down as well exercises to stretch and strengthen the muscles
- Most types of lifting would need to be stopped
- Plenty of stretching of the biceps and shoulder muscles
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- Ice packs
- Possibly get a cortisone injection bring down the pain and inflammation
- Rehabilitation exercises
The most effective treatment for bicep tendonitis is strength training and resistance exercises. As mention earlier this type of tendonitis rarely occurs on its own and is commonly associated with other should injuries such as a rotator cuff injury. Because of this many of the exercises will involved strengthening of the should and by extension the biceps muscles. These exercises would start small and as the muscle gets stronger the weight would increase strengthening the muscle further and reducing the inflammation and irritation causes by the tendonitis.