Are you sidelined from your sport because of a sore shoulder or arm? If it’s tendinitis, rest is required for your joint to heal.
Our board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Shults, with Coastal Empire Orthopedics in Savannah, Georgia, treats many cases of tendinitis. The good news is that the majority of cases resolve with conservative treatment. However, on occasion, surgery is the best option.
Your tendons connect muscle to bone. They help secure and stabilize your joints. Tendinitis can occur from overuse of a joint or from an untreated injury. Your tendon or tendons become inflamed, leading to pain, swelling, and/or tenderness to the touch.
Following are five signs that surgery should be on the horizon.
Most cases of tendinitis improve with conservative methods: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, the RICE method (rest, ice, compression, elevation), physical therapy, bracing, and/or injections. If your elbow, hand, wrist, shoulder, or other joint is still painful after several months, you should consider surgery to repair the damaged tendon.
Trying to tough it out and live with the pain isn’t a healthy option. Microscopic tears can become a bigger problem. The damage can cause further tendon degeneration.
Is your hand or elbow so sore that it’s difficult to hold a coffee cup? Perhaps it hurts to take a plate out of an upper kitchen cabinet because your shoulder is sore, or you only carry groceries with your “good” arm because your sore arm is too weak to hold the bag.
If your shoulder, hand, wrist, arm, or other area around a joint is still weak after conservative treatment, it’s time to investigate surgery. Loss of function in a joint increases the risk of accidents.
Does your sore joint stop you from playing your favorite sport or enjoying a special hobby? Perhaps you’ve had to stop playing tennis, dropped out of the softball team, or can no longer make model fighter planes because your arm or hand hurts when you move it.
Don’t let chronic pain steal your joy. Modern medicine can repair your damaged tendon and help you regain a better quality of life.
You’ve had tendinitis in the past; now it’s here again — and again. Your recurrent bouts of tendinitis signal a need for tendon repair, especially if you’re an athlete depending on a good arm or strong ankles.
If you’re an athlete, you don’t want to sit out an entire season only to be plagued with another round of tendinitis in a year or two. You want to continue playing with your team. You may need surgery to regain optimal strength in the joint to lower the risk of injury in the future.
Call Coastal Empire Orthopedics or book an appointment through our online portal today if you suffer from joint pain. We can help.
