Calcific Tendinitis: Things to Think About When Diagnosing
Calcific tendinitis happens when tendons (usually within the shoulder) become inflamed. Most often, the rotator cuffs in the shoulders are the target, and either or both shoulders can be affected.
While no solid cause for calcific tendinitis has been pinned down, blood levels of calcium indicate that it’s not excess calcium in the diet. If you’ve been diagnosed with the condition, don’t cut back on your calcium intake; it will just cause your body to scavenge the calcium from your bones to make up the lack (calcium is an important metabolic nutrient, not just what makes up your bones.)
Some have speculated that calcific tendinitis may be caused by a metabolic condition, or that those with kidney problems may be at greater risk of developing these types of calcium deposits. However, again, this is only a guess and not a definite diagnosed cause. It’s also known that overuse of the rotator cuff or injury does not cause calcific tendinitis, either. You CAN develop rotator cuff tendinitis with overuse, which is tendinitis that occurs without calcium deposits in addition.
The condition is rare in those under the age of 30; more than 95% of the cases are in people aged 30 and over.
What are the symptoms of calcific tendinitis?
Oftentimes, calcific tendinitis occurs without symptoms, especially if the deposits develop within the tendons deeply enough that they don’t “rub against” the rotator cuff. If a particularly large calcium deposit in the rotator cuff tendon rubs against the rotator cuff, it may cause what’s called “shoulder impingement syndrome,” where you feel pain if you raise your arm over your head.
It’s when the calcium crystals are shed that the tendons inflame and pain occurs; it’s been described as being akin to having small knife blades underneath your shoulder blade whenever you move your arm. A lot of people aren’t even aware that they have the condition until it suddenly hurts or their arm doesn’t go up any more. However, it’s when those flakes break off that they get re-absorbed by the body and the condition goes into remission.
Symptoms occur suddenly, rather than gradually over a long period of time. The pain symptoms are usually not permanent and only last a week or two until the deposits themselves are broken up.
If this type of attack causes you to seek medical attention, an x-ray will certainly show that you have calcific tendinitis. Treatment is usually pretty simple, with over-the-counter pain medications and ice being the treatment of choice. Range of motion exercises can help avoid a “frozen shoulder” incident.
Severe pain can get your doctor to give you a shot of cortisone to reduce inflammation, or a steroid shot. Rarely, they may decide to run a hypodermic under the shoulder blade to break up the nodule and extract the pieces with a syringe. In a handful of cases, arthroscopic surgery to remove large deposits may be needed to restore the full range of motion to your shoulder.
Tom Nicholson spends his time helping sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. Please click here to learn more regardingcalcific tendinitis.
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