It is a nice evening, and you have spent the whole day playing baseball. You start winding up your arm for a pitch, but suddenly a pinch in your shoulder prevents you from doing so.

You try shaking it off, thinking there is nothing, but the pain worsens as you wind up. In that case, you might have a classic shoulder impingement case.

What Shoulder Impingement Is

Shoulder impingement is a common issue that causes shoulder pain, where a band of tissue or tendon in your shoulder catches or rubs on nearby bone and tissue as you try lifting your arm.

It normally impacts the rotator cuff tendon, a rubbery tissue connecting the muscles around the shoulder joints to the top of the arm.

With the help of a shoulder surgeon, impinging shoulders often improve within a few months or weeks, particularly with the right kind of exercises for the shoulder. But occasionally, it might turn out to be an ongoing shoulder pain.

How Should It Develops

When the rotator cuff is injured or irritated, it swells the same way the ankle does when it gets sprained. But because a bone surrounds the rotator cuff, swelling can cause other events, resulting in rubbing against the acromion.

Similar to a vicious cycle, the rubbing of rotator cuff tendons leads to swelling that further narrows the space below the acromion. In other cases, bone spurs on acromion bone may contribute greatly to shoulder impingement by causing the space where the rotator cuff sits to be more narrowed.

Who Are More at Risk of Having It?

Playing sports, which needs you to the shoulders for forceful motion or overhead, is the greatest risk factor to develop shoulder impingement. Common activities, which can cause the syndrome include baseball, tennis, and swimming.

Occupations that need a lot of arm movement or heavy lifting can also increase the risks. These are not limited to the following:

• Painting
• Moving boxes
• Construction work

Symptoms

Pain in the rotator cuff commonly causes tenderness and swelling in the shoulder. You might have stiffness and pain when you try to lift your arms. There can also be a pain if you lower the arm from an elevated position.

Starting symptoms can be mild. Patients often don’t seek treatment at the early stage. The symptoms might include pain when serving a tennis ball, sudden pain with reaching movements, and pain radiating from the shoulder.

Diagnosis and Treatment

An MRI or x-ray helps to identify shoulder impingement. They may as well help rule out other conditions which can cause discomfort.

Before you see a physical therapist, your doctor can recommend you have these tests. The physical therapist may start by gathering details about the condition. That may include the health history.

You will be prescribed oral anti-inflammatory medications, like ibuprofen, naproxen, or aspirin, to treat the syndrome. These medicines are normally prescribed for around seven weeks as the condition takes longer to be treated.

Concluding Remarks!

Shoulder impingement normally occurs because an individual is overusing the shoulders. Baseball players, swimmers, and other athletes are more likely to experience the injury. Talk to your doctor if you are uncertain about your treatment options or symptoms.