Day 61 - Project 365

TENDONITIS AND BURSITIS is the official diagnosis of the MRI I had done last week. See what happens after you turn 40. Closing windows that are too tall for me and probably going a little crazy on the Wii aren't the best things for a 40 year old to be doing.





Shoulder Tendonitis is sort of simply, redness of the tendons in the shoulder, typically caused by wear and something you are way more susceptible to as you age. It seems usually, but not solely, in the over 40s and is a redness of the tendons in the rotator cuff.

The rotator cuff is a grouping of 4 muscles that help to stabilise the shoulder joint, pulling the ball at the head of the humerus ( higher arm bone ) into the socket of the shoulder joint. Without these muscles the shoulder would dislocate extremely simply as it is made from an intensely shallow ball and socket joint.

These 4 muscles all run from the scapula ( shoulder blade ) to the humerus running round the joint to form a cuff of muscle, thus the name. They’re tiny but crucial muscles that hold the joint in place as we reach up or out, lift or throw anything. They’re potentially the most neglected muscles in the body when it comes to formal exercise and as we get older they weaken.

Changes in our posture as we grow older may result in these muscles getting pinched or impinged by bone, leading to the wear that can end up in shoulder tendonitis. This is a discomforting condition leading to kindliness whenever we make sure movements, customarily reaching up or out or reaching behind us.

What Is Bursitis?
Wherever your bones, tendons, and ligaments move against each other, particularly near joints, the points of contact are cushioned by small fluid-filled sacs called bursae. By reducing friction, each of the more than 150 bursae in your body helps the joints operate smoothly through the full range of natural movement. But when a bursa becomes irritated and swollen, it's called bursitis -- or inflammation of the bursa.

What Causes Bursitis?
When a joint is overused or injured suddenly, or when it remains under pressure for a long time, a nearby bursa can become inflamed. The sac fills with excess fluid, causing pressure on surrounding tissue. The immediate signal is pain, often accompanied by inflammation, swelling, and tenderness in the area. This is different from tendinitis, which is inflammation or irritation in the cord attaching muscle to bone, called a tendon.
Age plays a role in bursitis, and one of the most common places it strikes is in the shoulder, which has the greatest range of motion of all the body's major joints. The pain is generally felt along the outside top of the shoulder. The discomfort of bursitis tends to be most severe after a night's sleep and will typically subside somewhat with normal activity. Other places that are prone to bursitis are the elbows, hips, knees, and the base of the thumb.
Bursitis is associated with strenuous activity, particularly among the following types of people:
Manual workers. Heavy lifting, repetitive motion, or working for extended periods can strain the joints and bring on a bursitis attack.
Athletes. They may get bursitis after running, throwing, or jumping, or from making aggressive arm swings in tennis, baseball, and even bowling.
Sedentary people. If they push their bodies past reasonable limits, they risk bursitis.