Shoulder Impingement Treatment in Northern Indiana

What is Shoulder Impingement?

Shoulder impingement happens when the top, outer part of your shoulder blade, called the acromion, rubs against or pinches your rotator cuff, causing pain and irritation.

When you raise your arm to the height of your shoulder, the room between the acromion and the rotator cuff gets smaller. The acromion can rub against the muscle and the bursa, causing irritation and pain.

shoulder impingement

Shoulder Impingement Symptoms

The first signs may be mild. Patients often don't go to the doctor early enough. Some of these signs are:

  • Minor pain that hurts both when you're doing things and when you're not. Pain that goes from the front of the shoulder to the side of the arm
  • Pain that comes on all of a sudden when lifting or stretching
  • Athletes who play sports in the air may feel pain when they throw or serve a tennis ball

As the problem gets worse, the signs get worse:

  • Pain at night
  • Loss of power and ability to move
  • It's hard to do things that require putting the arm behind the back, like buttoning or zipping clothes

If the pain starts all of a sudden, the shoulder might be very sore. It may hurt to move at all and be hard to move at all.

Shoulder Impingement Treatment

The goal of treating shoulder impingement syndrome is to get rid of the pain and get your shoulder to work again. Nonsurgical treatments include but are not limited to:

  • Shoulder impingement syndrome is best treated with physical therapy. Most of the time, you'll only need one or two visits to the office to learn how to keep doing physical therapy on your own at home. You'll learn how to stretch your shoulders so they can move more freely
  • Once or twice a day, ice should be put on the shoulder for 20 minutes
  • If your doctor says it's okay, you can take ibuprofen or naproxen as needed to ease the pain. For more intense pain, a stronger anti-inflammatory prescription drug may be given, or a cortisone injection may be given into the bursa under the acromion
  • When doing things, it helps to use common sense. Don't do things that often require you to reach over your head or behind your back. Shoulders with impingement syndrome tend to hurt more when they are moved in these ways

If non-surgical treatments don't help your shoulder pain, you may need shoulder surgery. This issue can be fixed with surgery, and other problems with your shoulder can also be fixed at the same time.

Shoulder Impingement Care in Michiana

When you have shoulder impingement, our doctors at OSMC can help you through every step, from getting ready for physical therapy or surgery to getting back to full function afterward. If you are having trouble with any of the above symptoms, please contact us and set up an appointment at one of our locations.