Calcific Tendinitis: Diagnosis and Ways of Treating
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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.)
There may be metabolic triggers for calcified tendinitis, some doctors speculate that it may have a similar root cause as kidney or bladder stones, which are also defined by calcified lumps accumulating within the body. This is not a definitive connection, but a categorization of similar symptoms and an avenue of further investigation. Rotator cuff injuries do not make people more likely to develop calcified tendinitis.
The condition only shows up in those over the age of 30; whether this is because of metabolic changes in the late 20s or something else is still being investigated.
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.
Where the symptoms show up is when the calcium deposit sheds crystals and flakes of calcium, which act like very small knives in the tendons, or like burrs, and cause inflammation as the body tries to break them down and reabsorb them. Most times, the pain lasts for a week or two and the symptoms go away.
Most of the symptoms hurt abruptly; they aren’t permanent and last a week or two, until the deposits are broken up and reabsorbed by the body. Typical treatments include aspirin and ibuprofen – the standard anti-inflammatory drugs.
X rays will show if the shoulder pain you’re having is caused by calcific tendinitis. The calcium nodule will show up readily. Treatment is typically icing the shoulder and anti-inflammatory drugs like Tylenol and aspirin. Range of motion exercises prevent a “frozen shoulder” incident.
In some rare cases, your doctor may decide that it’s necessary to go invasive, and use a hypodermic needle and syringe to break up the calcium lump and remove the pieces. In extreme cases, this may take an arthroscopic surgical procedure to do completely and remove all traces of it from the trauma site.
Tom Nicholson has spent years helping sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. You can click here to find out more aboutcalcific tendinitis.
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