Treatment of Impingement Syndrome

How can impingement syndrome be treated?

As a rule, the treatment of an impingement syndrome begins with conservative therapy, that is, one tries to cure the disease without performing an operation in order to burden the patient as little as possible. First of all, it is essential to keep your arm still and not subject it to unnecessary strain. In addition, the shoulder joint can be cooled with the help of ice packs, which can relieve pain and often contain the inflammatory processes a little. If these measures are no longer effective, the next step is to start using medication. Here, painkillers from the group of anti-rheumatoid drugs can be used, such as ibuprofen, which counteract both pain and inflammation. Drugs that can be injected directly into the affected joint are more effective. Cortisone is often used for this. Cortisone is a very effective anti-inflammatory, but it is quite strong and has many side effects, which is why it should not be used lightly and, if possible, only temporarily.

They also have an impingement syndrome physiotherapy and physical therapy very helpful. However, this should always be done under the guidance of a doctor or a trained physiotherapist in order not to cause even greater damage to the joint. Techniques that are helpful here are especially special stretching exercises and muscle building. The strength in the shoulder should be restored and movement restrictions are ideally minimized. In addition, certain mobilizations of the joint can also have a direct anti-inflammatory effect, as they stimulate the blood flow in the affected tissue and thus also the regeneration processes. However, it must be noted that these exercises can only have a positive effect if they are performed consistently, correctly and, above all, regularly over a longer period of time.

Appointment with a shoulder specialist

I would be happy to advise you!

Who am I?
My name is Carmen Heinz. I am a specialist in orthopedics and trauma surgery in the specialist team of .

The shoulder joint is one of the most complicated joints in the human body.

The treatment of the shoulder (rotator cuff, impingement syndrome, calcified shoulder (tendinosis calcarea, biceps tendon, etc.) therefore requires a lot of experience.
I treat a wide variety of shoulder diseases in a conservative way.
The aim of any therapy is treatment with full recovery without surgery.
Which therapy achieves the best results in the long term can only be determined after looking at all of the information (Examination, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.) be assessed.

You can find me in:

• Lumedis - your orthopedic surgeon
  Kaiserstrasse 14
  60311 Frankfurt am Main

Directly to the online appointment arrangement
Unfortunately, it is currently only possible to make an appointment with private health insurers. I hope for your understanding!
You can find more information about myself at Carmen Heinz.

Should all of the above-mentioned treatment options not show the desired effect of freedom from pain or at least considerable relief, one must ultimately surgery can be used. There are several alternatives that have to be weighed against each other depending on the severity of the disease and the individual condition of the patient. It is the least invasive and costly arthroscopic intervention. Only very small incisions are necessary, through which the surgeon inserts a camera into the joint, with the help of which he can directly identify bony structures that lead to constrictions and, if necessary, remove them with a small device. In this variant, the intervention can normally outpatient takes place, i.e. the patient can leave the hospital on the day of the operation.

With more pronounced clinical pictures there is usually one open therapy preferable. Here larger bone spurs can be removed and any adhesions that may be present can be removed at the same time. If necessary, the surgeon can also remove parts of the joint and / or smooth joint surfaces. With this method, however, a larger incision of around 4 cm in length must be made, which consequently involves a longer hospital stay. The most drastic variant is the so-called subacromial decompression. The purpose of this operation is to expand the joint space in order to treat the existing impingement syndrome and to prevent a relapse. Depending on which structures of the joint were responsible for the symptoms, parts of the bones, tendons or parts of bursa can be removed during this procedure.

Following each type of surgery is a detailed one physiotherapy prescribed, whereby it is important to find a good balance between overloading the joint too early and immobilizing it for too long, both of which can negatively affect the healing process in the long term. The larger the operation, the slower the mobilization of the joint should be started and the longer it usually takes until the affected shoulder can regain completely normal mobility and freedom from pain.

Conservative therapy for impingement syndrome

The English word "Impingement"Means something like"collision". The name for the syndrome comes from the fact that different components collide within a joint and become one Entrapment or even degeneration of tendons and / or joint capsule. Most of the time, the term is used when this process is in Shoulder joint takes place, but in principle it can be used for all joints of the body. The syndrome goes with you Pain and more or less pronounced Restrictions on movement and should therefore be treated as soon as possible.

As a rule, one begins the treatment of one Impingement Syndrome With conservative therapy, that is, one tries to cure the disease without performing an operation in order to burden the patient as little as possible. First of all, it is essential to keep your arm still and not unnecessarily charges suspend. In addition, the shoulder joint can be with the help of Ice packs be cooled, which relieves pain and the Inflammatory processes can often be contained a little.
If these measures are no longer effective, the next step is to start using medication. Here you can Painkiller from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can be used, such as Ibuprofenthat counteract both pain and inflammation. Drugs that can be injected directly into the affected joint are more effective. This is often done cortisone used. Cortisone is a very effective anti-inflammatory, but it is quite strong and has many side effects, which is why it should not be used lightly and, if possible, only temporarily.

They also have an impingement syndrome physiotherapy and physical therapy very helpful. However, this should always be done under the guidance of a doctor or a trained physiotherapist so as not to cause even greater damage to the joint. Techniques that are helpful here are mainly special stretching exercises and Muscle building. The strength in the shoulder should be restored and movement restrictions are ideally minimized. In addition, certain mobilizations of the joint can also have a direct anti-inflammatory effect, as they stimulate the blood flow in the affected tissue and thus also the regeneration processes. However, it must be noted that these exercises can only have a positive effect if they are performed consistently, correctly and, above all, regularly over a longer period of time.

If conservative therapy does not lead to pain relief, surgical treatment can be considered. There are various options to choose from.