Shoulder impingement syndrome is the result of a vicious cycle of rubbing of the rotator cuff between your humerus and top outer edge of your shoulder. The rubbing leads to more swelling and further narrowing of the space, which result in pain and irritation. Treatments include rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, cortisone injections and surgery.

What is shoulder impingement syndrome?

Shoulder impingement occurs when the top outer edge of your shoulder blade, called the acromion, rubs against (“impinges on”) or pinches your rotator cuff beneath it, causing pain and irritation.

What is my rotator cuff and what does it do?

As seen in the illustration, your rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that originates on the shoulder blade and attaches as a “cuff’ of tendon onto your arm bone (humerus).

You use your rotator cuff to help raise your arm overhead and to rotate your arm towards and away from your body. You will notice in the illustration that the rotator cuff sits in a small space between two bones in the shoulder (the acromion and the humerus). This arrangement makes the rotator cuff susceptible to being pinched or “impinged” between these bones, leading to what is called “impingement syndrome.”

How does shoulder impingement syndrome develop?

When your rotator cuff is irritated or injured, it swells in much the same way your ankle does when it is sprained. However, because your rotator cuff is surrounded by bone, swelling causes other events to occur. Swelling reduces the amount of space around the rotator cuff, leading to rubbing against the acromion. Like a vicious cycle, the rubbing of the rotator cuff tendons result in swelling, which further narrows the space below the acromion. In some cases, bone spurs on the acromion bone can contribute to impingement by causing the space where the rotator cuff sits to be even more narrowed

Who gets shoulder impingement?

Shoulder impingement syndrome is most commonly seen in individuals who are involved in sports and other activities with a lot of overhead rotational motion – like swimming, baseball, volleyball and tennis as well as things such as window washing and painting.

Shoulder impingement can also result from an injury, such as a fall onto an outstretched arm or directly onto the shoulder.

How common is shoulder impingement?

Shoulder impingement syndrome is thought to be the cause of 44% to 65% of all shoulder pain complaints

What causes shoulder impingement?

Your rotator cuff tendon passes through a space below the acromion. The acromion is the bony tip of the outer edge of your shoulder blade (scapula) that comes off the top of the back side of this bone. It meets with the end of your collar bone (clavicle) at your shoulder. Shoulder impingement occurs when the tendon rubs against the acromion.

The causes of this impingement include:

• Your tendon is torn or swollen. This can be due to overuse from repetitive activity of the shoulder, injury or from age-related wear and tear.
• Your bursa is irritated and inflamed. Your bursa is the fluid-filled sac between your tendon and the acromion. Your bursa helps your muscles and tendons glide over your bones. Your bursa can become inflamed due to overuse of the shoulder or injury.
• Your acromion is not flat (you were born this way) or you have developed age-related bone spurs on your acromion.

What are the symptoms of shoulder impingement syndrome?

Symptoms of shoulder impingement syndrome include:

• Pain when your arms are extended above your head.
• Pain when lifting your arm, lowering your arm from a raised position or when reaching.
• Pain and tenderness in the front of your shoulder.
• Pain that moves from the front of your shoulder to the side of your arm.
• Pain when lying on the affected side.
• Pain or achiness at night, which affects your ability to sleep.
• Pain when reaching behind your back, like reaching into a back pocket or zipping up a zipper.
• Shoulder and/or arm weakness and stiffness.

Symptoms usually develop gradually over weeks to months.

Shoulder impingement is closely related to other common sources of pain in the shoulder called bursitis and rotator cuff tendonitis. These conditions can occur alone or in combination. Shoulder pain can also be a sign of a more serious injury to your rotator cuff, a small tear or hole called a rotator cuff tear. If your rotator cuff has torn completely, you’ll likely have significant weakness and may not be able to raise your arm against gravity. In addition, you may have a rupture (tear) of your biceps muscle tendon as part of this continuing impingement process.