Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsLocation and Pain Sensation of Calcific TendonitisWhen to Begin RehabilitationShoulder Calcification Physical Therapy ExercisesEstimated Recovery TimelineHow to Find a Physical TherapistInsurance Coverage and CostsFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Location and Pain Sensation of Calcific Tendonitis
When to Begin Rehabilitation
Shoulder Calcification Physical Therapy Exercises
Estimated Recovery Timeline
How to Find a Physical Therapist
Insurance Coverage and Costs
Frequently Asked Questions
Calcific tendonitisresults from the buildup of calcium in the shoulder, causingpainand limitedrange of motion. Symptoms can often be treated with physical therapy to restore the shoulder’s range of motion and improve rotator cuff strength.
This article reviews physical therapy exercises for calcific tendonitis and the general recovery timeline.
boonchai wedmakawand / Getty Images
Calcific tendinitis most commonly causes a dull ache in the shoulder that worsens with movement of the arm and limits the range of motion of the shoulder. The condition also often causes increased shoulder pain at night that interferes with sleep.
Rehabilitation for calcific tendonitis should begin as soon as possible. If left untreated, the condition can progress to afrozen shoulder, causing severe, painful stiffening of the shoulder joint capsule that significantly restricts movement and interferes with daily activities.
Treatment Options for Calcific Tendonitis of the Shoulder
Exercises for calcific tendonitis include moving your shoulder through its full range of motion and increasing the strength of your rotator cuff muscles that support and stabilize your shoulder.
Also perform strengthening exercises for the muscles that control your shoulder blades, such as the middle and lower trapezius, rhomboids, and serratus anterior, to improve the alignment of your shoulder. Strengthening these muscles will also preventshoulder impingement, the pinching of the rotator cuff tendons under the forward projecting portion of theshoulder bladecalled the acromion, which often occurs with and worsens symptoms of calcific tendonitis.
A physical therapist will progressively increase the difficulty of your exercises as you build up strength and range of motion and will monitor your form to make sure that you are performing the exercises correctly and activating the right muscle groups.
Wall Slides
This exercise helps move your shoulder joint through different planes of motion.
To perform this exercise:
Resisted Shoulder External Rotation
This exercise improves the strength of the rotator cuff muscles to stabilize and externally rotate your shoulder.
Rows
This exercise improves the strength of muscles that control the alignment of your shoulder blades, including the rhomboids and middle trapezius.
Theraband Shoulder Extension
This exercise improves the strength of muscles that control the alignment of your shoulder blades, including the rhomboids, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius.
Band Pull-Aparts
This exercise improves the strength of the rotator cuff muscles to stabilize your shoulder, the posterior deltoid, and the muscles that control the alignment of your shoulder blades, including the rhomboids and middle trapezius.
Ys and Ts
These exercises improve the strength of your rotator cuff muscles to stabilize your shoulders and muscles that control the alignment of your shoulder blades, including the rhomboids, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius.
Tools and Exercise Aids
Exercise equipment like light weights and resistance bands are useful to use during your rehabilitation for calcific tendonitis; increasing resistance during exercise will help your muscles get stronger.
During your recovery, upper body and overhead movements for long periods of time will be difficult at first, which can impact your ability to work and engage in family and social activities. Jobs that have more physically demanding work duties will require a longer amount of time to recover and return to work.
Making sure you attend regular physical therapy visits will ensure that you are taking the appropriate steps to rehabilitate you to your previous level of functioning.
The stages of calcific tendonitis include:
To find a physical therapist, you can use an internet search engine with the keywords “physical therapy” and your town to find PT practices near your location. You can also use the “find a provider” search function on the website of your health insurance company to find physical therapy providers in your area that accept your insurance.
Physical therapists work at a variety of locations, including private practice physical therapy clinics, hospitals, and doctors’ offices.
The cost of your physical therapy visits will depend on your individual health insurance coverage. Most insurance companies approve a certain amount of visits at a time or per year, but these visits can often be extended if treatment is considered medically necessary.
Summary
A Word From Verywell
Calcific tendonitis can be a painful condition that limits your ability to perform everyday activities. If you feel that your pain, stiffness, and limited shoulder range of motion is interfering with your daily tasks, scheduling an evaluation with a physical therapist can help provide you with treatment and exercises to help alleviate your symptoms. If symptoms still do not improve with physical therapy, a cortisone injection or surgery may be recommended next.
Frequently Asked QuestionsCalcific tendonitis can be treated with rest, ice, and shoulder exercises.You should avoid sleeping on your affected shoulder to decrease discomfort and compression of the irritated tendons.Calcific tendonitis tends to resolve on its own in 12–18 months.Some facilities require a prescription from a referring physician to start physical therapy while other facilities operate under direct access, where you can call and request an initial evaluation appointment without a prescription.Calcium deposits tend to naturally break down and reabsorb into the body with time. If your pain and limited range of motion are severe, surgery may be needed to remove the calcium deposits from your rotator cuff tendons.
Calcific tendonitis can be treated with rest, ice, and shoulder exercises.
You should avoid sleeping on your affected shoulder to decrease discomfort and compression of the irritated tendons.
Calcific tendonitis tends to resolve on its own in 12–18 months.
Some facilities require a prescription from a referring physician to start physical therapy while other facilities operate under direct access, where you can call and request an initial evaluation appointment without a prescription.
Calcium deposits tend to naturally break down and reabsorb into the body with time. If your pain and limited range of motion are severe, surgery may be needed to remove the calcium deposits from your rotator cuff tendons.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6DE Carli A, Pulcinelli F, Rose GD, Pitino D, Ferretti A.Calcific tendinitis of the shoulder.Joints. 2014;2(3):130–136. doi:10.11138/jts/2014.2.3.130Greis AC, Derrington SM, McAuliffe M.Evaluation and nonsurgical management of rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy.Orthop Clin North Am. 2015 Apr;46(2):293-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ocl.2014.11.011.Aurora Bay Medical Center.Shoulder: Post-operative self PROM and AAROM home exercise program.OrthoInfo.Rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning program.Performance Health Academy.Thera-band Shoulder Extensions.Montana State University.Strength training with resistance bands- 20 or 40 minute routine.American Council on Exercise.Prone scapular (shoulder) stabilization series - I, Y, T, W, O formation.Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6DE Carli A, Pulcinelli F, Rose GD, Pitino D, Ferretti A.Calcific tendinitis of the shoulder.Joints. 2014;2(3):130–136. doi:10.11138/jts/2014.2.3.130Greis AC, Derrington SM, McAuliffe M.Evaluation and nonsurgical management of rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy.Orthop Clin North Am. 2015 Apr;46(2):293-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ocl.2014.11.011.Aurora Bay Medical Center.Shoulder: Post-operative self PROM and AAROM home exercise program.OrthoInfo.Rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning program.Performance Health Academy.Thera-band Shoulder Extensions.Montana State University.Strength training with resistance bands- 20 or 40 minute routine.American Council on Exercise.Prone scapular (shoulder) stabilization series - I, Y, T, W, O formation.Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6DE Carli A, Pulcinelli F, Rose GD, Pitino D, Ferretti A.Calcific tendinitis of the shoulder.Joints. 2014;2(3):130–136. doi:10.11138/jts/2014.2.3.130Greis AC, Derrington SM, McAuliffe M.Evaluation and nonsurgical management of rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy.Orthop Clin North Am. 2015 Apr;46(2):293-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ocl.2014.11.011.Aurora Bay Medical Center.Shoulder: Post-operative self PROM and AAROM home exercise program.OrthoInfo.Rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning program.Performance Health Academy.Thera-band Shoulder Extensions.Montana State University.Strength training with resistance bands- 20 or 40 minute routine.American Council on Exercise.Prone scapular (shoulder) stabilization series - I, Y, T, W, O formation.Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6
Merolla G, Singh S, Paladini P, Porcellini G.Calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff: state of the art in diagnosis and treatment.J Orthop Traumatol. 2016;17(1):7–14. doi:10.1007/s10195-015-0367-6
DE Carli A, Pulcinelli F, Rose GD, Pitino D, Ferretti A.Calcific tendinitis of the shoulder.Joints. 2014;2(3):130–136. doi:10.11138/jts/2014.2.3.130
Greis AC, Derrington SM, McAuliffe M.Evaluation and nonsurgical management of rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy.Orthop Clin North Am. 2015 Apr;46(2):293-302. doi: 10.1016/j.ocl.2014.11.011.
Aurora Bay Medical Center.Shoulder: Post-operative self PROM and AAROM home exercise program.
OrthoInfo.Rotator cuff and shoulder conditioning program.
Performance Health Academy.Thera-band Shoulder Extensions.
Montana State University.Strength training with resistance bands- 20 or 40 minute routine.
American Council on Exercise.Prone scapular (shoulder) stabilization series - I, Y, T, W, O formation.
Meet Our Medical Expert Board
Share Feedback
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
What is your feedback?OtherHelpfulReport an ErrorSubmit
What is your feedback?
