Biceps Tendonitis

Most often this injury is due to overuse, especially with repetitive activity in specific positions. Over time, the tendon sustains forces that exceeds its capacity leading to micro-injuries. You may not notice these at first, but given enough time, the tendon starts having larger tears, gets thick and swollen, and inflammation settles in causing pain and decreased function.

Occasionally, a single traumatic event can occur injuring the tendon, even causing a tendon rupture.

Additional risk factors of biceps tendonitis include:

• Aching and tenderness in the front of the shoulder
• Pain when raising you are or turning a screwdriver
• Stiffness in the shoulder
• Possible weakness in the shoulder

• Prevention – Focus on your posture and technique if your work or hobbies require a lot of overhead activity, stretch and strengthen the muscle with exercise, maintain good mobility of the shoulder joint, and avoid nicotine.
• Physical therapy – To help build strength, correct your posture, and improve function
• Medications– Usually NSAIDs or Tylenol short-term to help control symptoms while going through a PT program
• Steroid injections- Strong anti-inflammatory medication to reduce pain and inflammation in order to facilitate therapy. Typically done with ultrasound to guide the injection
• Regenerative medicine– Harnessing the body’s incredible power to heal itself, rebuild tissue, and avoid surgery. Options include PRP, Bone-marrow derived stem cells, and Microfragmented Adipose injections.