Inflammation of the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle leads to supraspinatus tendinitis. This is the most common cause of shoulder pain.  Supraspinatus tendinitis or painful arc syndrome occurs in the shoulder. The shoulder joint owes its stability to the ‘rotator cuff’ muscles – which are four small muscles located around the shoulder joint which help with movement, but importantly their tendons stabilise the head of the humerus within the joint capsule.

Symptoms

  1. Pain and inflammation
  2. Decreased ROM 
  3. Decreased Strength 
  4. Decreased Functional Activity

Conservative Treatment

1. Rest your shoulder

2. Apply ice and heat

3. The Supraspinatus tendinitis treatment plan usually begins with rest, ice, compression and elevation treatment . 

Physiotherapy plays a very important role in recovery of supraspinatus tendinitis.

Aim of Physiotherapy

Goal of physiotherapy will first be to reduce pain before eventually restoring function and strength to the shoulder. Physiotherapist will achieve this through stretching exercises, retraining of movement patterns, muscle releases, taping and resistance exercises. Gradually pain starts to decrease, strengthening exercises will be increased to allow your shoulder to function at its optimal level. An important part of physiotherapy treatment is also re-education, which allows you to avoid a re-occurrence of shoulder impingement in the future.