How long does rotator cuff tendinopathy take to heal?

Healing time is usually the second question people ask, right after they learn what the problem is. Knowing the range for your shoulder helps you plan the weeks ahead before you ever sit in an exam room.

What recovery range to expect

OrthoInfo (AAOS) gives a range rather than a single date. In its page on shoulder impingement and rotator cuff tendinitis, it writes: "It typically takes 2 to 4 months to achieve complete relief of pain, but it may take up to 1 year."

That sentence describes pain relief. The same page also says: "Many patients experience a gradual improvement and return to function, although it may take several weeks to months for complete recovery."

How to read those ranges

Both ranges are wide, so your own timeline could land anywhere inside them. What moves a person toward the short end or the long end is a question for your clinician.

Use the ranges as a planning frame and check three things with a clinician, in this order.

• Whether your diagnosis matches the condition OrthoInfo describes.
• Which milestone your clinician is tracking, such as pain relief or return to function.
• What you should expect to notice at each stage of the recovery.

What to do while you wait for the visit

Write down when the shoulder pain started, what you do each day that makes it worse, and which treatments you have already tried. A plain-language pain overview can help with the words for your notes.

It also helps to read how the shoulder joint is built, so the terms a clinician uses are familiar. If you live near Bloomfield, bring your notes to the first visit.

Planning around the first milestone

A range is not a promise. Ask your clinician to name the milestone they expect first, and plan around that one instead of the end of the range.