I was told about a week ago that I have a highly calcinated tendon in my right shoulder. This was diagnosed from an external exam of my shoulder and xrays three days after I woke up one morning and couldn't move my right arm without severe pain that became progressively worse over the three days. My range of motion was increasingly limited and I was experiencing pain in my shoulder, elbow and wrist as well as numbness and swelling of my entire arm and hand. Apparently some of the calcium broke off and went into the shoulder joint. I was instructed to take 800mg of Ibuprofen every four hours for two weeks. I don't like to take it because it makes me lightheaded and nauseaus. By the end of the week I was able to move my arm again. However, my doctor had no answers for my questions re: how and why my body is depositing calcium in this area, the rate this was being done, whether I should change my diet (less dairy calcium, less calcium altogether, increase of another vitamin or mineral...), whether this was happening elsewhere in my body, if it was an idication of arthritis. To all those questions he replied that he did not know. To my question whether the calcium could be removed he replied that there is no way to decalcify a tendon. He said eventually some of the calcium would break off again and we would deal with it when that happened. I'm sorry to post such a long message, but I have so many questions and no answers. I'm an active person - I bike the MS150 (this is my third year and I bike 500 miles in preparation for the actual ride), I'm training for a marathon in October to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation - and now I'm afraid to move. Can I get back to my biking, running and weights? My doctor said the tendon may rupture or my shoulder may at some point freeze. There has to be something I can do. The answer cannot be - I don't know - wait for it to happen again. I would greatly appreciate any info you could give me.
Follow Ups:
Re: calcinated tendon
Posted by Walt Stoll on February 25, 1999 at 11:29:24:
In Reply to: calcinated tendon posted by Bryn on February 24, 1999 at 18:16:55:
Dear Bryn,
I hate to say it but there is a good chance that your marathon bicycling is a major factor in this.
See if you get a response from doc dave. If not, resubmit your note with his name in the title to draw his attention.
Another factor could be a large dairy intake since cows' milk is very high in phosprorus and low in calcium. Excessive intake can put the kibosh on your parathyroid and deposit "inorganic" calcium in areas of high wear.
Finally, SR would definitely help, especially if you must continue the bicycling. The "bracing" puts unnatural pressure on all tendons but especially the ones in the shoulder.
As you well know, the ibuprophen only blocks the inflammatory reactions of the injury in the shoulder. It is of temporary benefit at best.
Bob MacFerran might just have some ideas for you as well.
Walt