Westside Chiropractic
Rotator cuff tendinopathy care in Burlington.
Reaching for the top shelf or rolling onto that side at night is often when a sore rotator cuff speaks up. You may have heard it called rotator cuff tendinitis. Your rotator cuff is four small muscles whose tendons wrap around the shoulder joint, and tendinopathy (a tendon that has become irritated and less tolerant of load) is what we call it when one of those tendons starts complaining. It can be slow to settle, but it often responds well to gradual loading.
What rotator cuff tendinopathy can feel like
Most people point to an ache on the outside of the upper arm rather than deep in the joint. It tends to catch when you lift your arm overhead or out to the side, reach back for a seatbelt, or carry a bag with your arm away from your body. Lying on that shoulder often wakes you. The arm usually still moves; it just objects to parts of the range.
Common causes we see
Your shoulder is built a bit like a golf ball on a tee: a large ball on a small, shallow socket. The rotator cuff’s job is to keep the ball centred on the tee while bigger muscles swing the arm around. Trouble usually starts when the cuff is asked for more than it is used to, fairly quickly. Think of a weekend painting a ceiling, a new pressing program at the gym, or a return to swimming or pickleball. Tendons adapt to the work you give them, just slowly. Scans of people with no shoulder pain often show tendon changes too, so a finding on a report is not always the source of what you feel.
Your care
How we help
Tendons respond to load, so the centre of care is a graded strengthening plan through exercise and rehab, aimed at helping the cuff keep that ball on the tee as you reach and lift. The evidence is consistent that graded loading is a first-line approach for tendinopathy. Alongside it, we may use chiropractic adjustments for the shoulder, neck, and upper back, soft tissue therapy, medical acupuncture, or massage therapy with Jody Maxwell, RMT. Some discomfort during the exercises is usually fine if it settles by the next day; hurt does not always mean harm. If your assessment points elsewhere, or care here is not the right fit, we will refer you on.
How we assess it
We ask when it started, what you had been doing more of, and what bothers it. Then we check how the shoulder moves on its own and when we move it for you, test each part of the cuff, and watch your shoulder blade as you raise your arm. We also screen your neck, which can send pain into the shoulder, and check for look-alikes such as frozen shoulder (a stiff, painful joint capsule that limits movement in most directions).
When to get it checked sooner
Most shoulder pain is not serious, but see a medical doctor promptly if you cannot lift your arm at all after a fall or sudden injury, if the joint is hot and swollen or you have a fever, or if night pain comes with weight loss you cannot explain. If shoulder pain comes with chest pain or shortness of breath, or comes on with exertion, get emergency medical care right away. These point to something other than rotator cuff tendinopathy. We will refer you on if your assessment suggests it.
Common questions
Rotator cuff tendinopathy questions
Can a chiropractor help with a rotator cuff problem?
Do I need an X-ray or MRI first?
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