How to Overcome Biceps Tendinopathy and Regain Mobility

How to Overcome Biceps Tendinopathy: Effective Treatments

1. Rest and Modify Your Activities

The first step to overcoming biceps tendinopathy is giving your tendon time to heal. Avoid activities that involve overhead movements, lifting, or rotating your forearm. This means you should steer clear of exercises like military presses, wide-grip bench presses, and upright rows​. Reducing activities that cause pain will help your tendon heal.

2. Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

Physical therapy is an important part of recovering from biceps tendinopathy. A good rehab plan will focus on improving shoulder strength, restoring movement, and preventing further injuries.

• Early Exercises: Start with exercises to stabilize the shoulder, like YTWL and scapular protraction, which help strengthen the muscles around your shoulder​.
• Stretching and Mobility: Gentle stretches for the biceps, shoulder, and upper back muscles can improve flexibility. Pendulum exercises, wall walking, and sleeper stretches are great options​.
• Strengthening: As you improve, gradually add strengthening exercises. Begin with light resistance and move to more challenging exercises as your shoulder becomes stronger​​.

3. Therapeutic Modalities

Using treatments like ice, heat, ultrasound, or electrical stimulation can help reduce pain and swelling in the early stages of recovery. Ice can calm inflammation, while heat helps relax muscles and improve blood flow​.

4. Pain Relief and Medications

Over-the-counter pain relievers, such as NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), can help manage pain and inflammation. In some cases, doctors may suggest an ultrasound-guided injection of a local anesthetic for short-term pain relief​. However, injections into the tendon itself should be avoided to lower the risk of further damage​.

5. Surgery (When Necessary)

Surgery is usually a last resort. It’s only considered if conservative treatments don’t work or if the tendon is severely torn. Surgical options like tendon repair or tenodesis (reattaching the tendon to the bone) are typically only recommended for younger, more active individuals​.