When you've been told you have a damaged shoulder tendon

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

⚠️ Is there anything to check first?

If the tendon is completely torn, or you suddenly couldn't lift your arm after an injury, you may need surgery. See an orthopedic doctor and get imaging first.

People come to us after those checks are done. If you bring your test results, we'll explain what we can and can't do.

How do people describe it when they come in?

It hurts to lift or rotate the arm, and especially at night, lying on the painful side feels like being stabbed.

We often hear this from people who don't do work that uses their arms much. At first they dismiss it as muscle pain, and come in once they can't raise their arm over their head.

How is it different from frozen shoulder?

With a damaged tendon, it hurts especially in certain directions; with frozen shoulder, it catches in every direction. But some people have both.

It happens when the tendon surrounding the shoulder rubs against the shoulder bone and becomes inflamed, so the telltale sign is pain in the middle range as you raise your arm.

It gets worse at night for the same reason as frozen shoulder: lying down raises the pressure around the shoulder and blood circulates less.

How do we treat it?

We give pharmacopuncture while watching the inflamed area, and use Chuna to correct the shoulder's position. Then we move on to exercises that strengthen the muscles around the shoulder.

The order matters. If you start with exercise and leave the painful spot alone, the tendon keeps rubbing. Only once the inflammation settles do you reach the stage where exercise helps.

Many people's shoulders roll forward. In that posture, the space the tendon passes through narrows every time you lift your arm, so we also work on changing that posture.

How did people do?

For many, night pain eases first, and lifting the arm gets comfortable more slowly.

We judge by everyday movements like washing your face and your hair. We measure and record the angle, but when we talk about it, we look at it together: "Last time it got to here, and today it gets to here."

What are the limits of this approach?

We don't say a damaged tendon will reattach as it was. What we look at is the inflammation, the surrounding muscles and the shoulder's position.

If the pain actually gets worse or your arm starts to feel weak, we'll guide you to get tested again.

If you have the same symptoms

1. If it's completely torn or you suddenly couldn't lift it after an injury, see an orthopedic doctor first.
2. A damaged tendon catches in certain directions; frozen shoulder catches in every direction.
3. Only once the inflammation settles do you reach the stage where exercise helps.
4. If your shoulders roll forward, the space the tendon passes through narrows.
5. We don't say a damaged tendon will reattach as it was.

We start by measuring how far your arm can be raised. Our first goal is for you to be able to turn over in bed at night.

If shoulder pain keeps you from turning over at night, come and see us. That night pain is the first thing we work on. Recovery begins once you can sleep.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.