Biceps Tendinitis: Understanding its Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment Biceps tendinitis is a common shoulder condition among athletes and bodybuilders. It can be triggered by sports that involve a lot of upper arm movements such as tennis. Similarly, repeated sets of weight exercises cause a huge strain on the shoulders. It is characterised by a stinging pain every time you move your upper arm. If the pain persists and keeps you up at night, the doctor would conduct a thorough diagnostic test. Based on the diagnosis, the doctor may recommend a steroid injection in shoulder. The complex shoulder anatomy and the risks of tendon flare-ups The shoulder is an anatomically complex structure, one made with the amalgamation of bones, muscles and connective tissues. These different tissues are intricately joined together to form a unified structure. High-intensity weight-lifting workouts can cause damage to tendons in the shoulder. Consequently, whenever you experience discomfort in your shoulders, The pain could result from any specific point in this complicated anatomical structure. The pain could be localised in the front of the shoulder if it is due to long head of bicpes problems. On the other hand, pain at the top of the shoulder, can be due to inflammation of a small joint between the shoulder blade and the collar bone, called the acromioclavicular joint. If conservative management is not helping, you may seek a cortisone injection in Kingston to help you control the symptoms. The biceps consists of the long head and the short head. These heads lead to tendons that attach to specific areas within the shoulder joint. The long head of the bicep tendon is the one that is attached to the supraglenoid tubercle, a bony structure in the shoulder joint. This provides stability to the shoulder joint. The long head biceps tendon is most commonly affected by wear and tear. Conditions associated with the long head of biceps tendon As mentioned above, the long head of biceps tendon is intricately attached to the shoulder joint. Since it’s a large muscle group covering a significant part of the upper arm, it also gets affected the most by injuries. Doing multiple sets of bench press or biceps curls can put enormous pressure on this muscle group and cause pain in the shoulders. The problems in the long head of biceps tendon can be classified into the following: Tendon Injury: If the upper arm undergoes repeated movements (like playing tennis, dumbbell workout), the tendon could swell up. This will inevitably lead to pain, and if the strain continues, it could even lead to tearing. The injury could also occur due to a fall. Tendon tear: Although less common among the youth, the long head of biceps tendon could rupture or under go a partial injury. It is relatively easy to identify clinically as the patient would have protruding biceps, just like ‘Popeye’.
Tenosynovitis: The long head of bicep tendon is encapsulated by a tendon sheath. When there’s inflammation in the tendon sheath, it is called Tenosynovitis. It is a painful condition. An ultrasound guided steroid injection into the tendon sheath is usually effective in settling down the inflammation. Symptoms of biceps tendinitis The most typical sign of biceps tendinitis is shoulder discomfort when raising your arms above your head. The pain is typically situated at the front of the shoulder. Your chances of having tendinitis could be significant if this is a recurring issue. However, some other shoulder conditions also show similar symptoms. ● Frozen shoulder ● Rotator cuff injury ● Calcific Tendinopathy ● Shoulder Bursitis ● Osteoarthritis ● Shoulder Impingement Most of these conditions present similar symptoms. It is therefore important to discriminate between them to find the underlying reason for your shoulder pain. This can be done through the right diagnostic assessment. Identifying biceps tendinitis with the right diagnosis Research has shown that ultrasound shows highly accurate results when identifying musculoskeletal problems like biceps tendinitis. The results are highly accurate, as that of an MRI. The developments in the field of ultrasound diagnosis has made it possible to get precise, high definition image resolution. This has been a great boost to non–invasive diagnostic analysis. With the help of quality images, doctors can locate the precise location of inflammation and pain and find out the exact reason for the shoulder pain. When the correct diagnosis is done, the next step i.e. treatment, becomes much easier. Treatment for Biceps Tendinitis ● Physiotherapy: The purpose of physiotherapy is to regain normal movement of the pain. These are simple progressive exercises that help your shoulders heal slowly but steadily. ● Cortisone Injection: If your long head of biceps tendon does not respond favourbly to physiotherapy, You doctor may recommend a cortisone injection in Kingston. This is administered with the help of ultrasound and injected directly into the pain site. The corticosteroids in the injection help in reducing inflammation and fasten the recovery. These injections have been found to be highly accurate as they are performed under ultrasound guidance to ensure delivery to the exact problematic site. Key Takeaway
Biceps tendinitis is a common shoulder problem witnessed particularly in sportspeople and gymgoers. It can cause debilitating pain at the front of the shoulder and severely limits upper arm mobility. It can be either treated with the help of physiotherapy or a steroid injection in the shoulder. The latter is administered with the guidance of ultrasound which increases the effectiveness of treatment.