Lawrence Academy

Calcific Tendinopathy of the Rotator Cuff

What Is It?

Calcific tendinopathy is when calcium builds up inside the rotator cuff tendons (usually the supraspinatus). It can cause pain but is often found in people with no symptoms at all.

Who Gets It?

• Common in adults aged 30–60
• More frequent in women
• Linked with diabetes, hypothyroidism, and frozen shoulder
• Not caused by heavy lifting or injury

What Causes It?

The exact cause isn’t fully known. It may involve:

• Tendon cells turning into bone/cartilage-forming cells
• Poor healing or overuse
• Possibly genetic or metabolic factors

It goes through three stages:

1. Pre-calcific – no symptoms
2. Calcific – calcium appears (may or may not hurt)
3. Post-calcific – body absorbs calcium and tendon heals

What Are the Symptoms?

• Shoulder pain (can come on suddenly or build up slowly)
• Worse at night
• Limited movement
• But remember: up to 50% feel nothing at all

How Is It Diagnosed?

• Ultrasound is the best tool
• X-rays can show
...

Do your patients complain of leg or buttock pain when walking—but feel relief when they sit or lean forward?

This classic presentation points toward neurogenic claudication, often caused by lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), a degenerative condition common in adults over 60. As a physiotherapist, identifying the cause of claudication is critical for guiding effective, non-surgical management strategies and avoiding unnecessary referrals or interventions.

Let’s break down what you need to know about spinal stenosis, how to differentiate claudication types, and which exercises and clinical tests can guide your practice.

What Is Lumbar Spinal Stenosis?

Lumbar spinal stenosis refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back, often due to age-related degenerative changes. This narrowing compresses the spinal nerves, impairing blood flow and leading to symptoms like:

• Buttock or leg pain with walking

• Heaviness, cramping, or pins and needles

• Pain relief when

  ...

As health professionals, we often encounter patients grappling with an acute onset of back pain. All patients want us to address their immediate symptoms but we can also help them to prepare for flare-ups. In this blog post, we'll explore a few strategies that you can share with your patients to empower them in managing their back pain. They feature in this video that you can share with patients or create your own video. 

Understanding Back Pain: The Role of Pain Memory

One intriguing concept to introduce to patients is "pain memory." Pain memory is when the brain activates the same neural pathways during a current episode of back pain that were previously active during a more intense episode. This can elevate the perceived pain level, even if the current episode is triggered by a smaller stimulus. Encourage patients to recognize when their brain might be producing exaggerated pain signals, especially in the absence of recent trauma. Help them understand that pain is not always indic...

When it comes to AI which category would you sit in?

A:  Ignore it and hope someone switches it off soon.

B: Love it and use it all the time to do helpful and less helpful things.

C: Passionately hate it, the AI future terrifies me.

Not only is AI taking over fast but the speed of development within AI is like nothing we have witnessed in human history.

This blog provides some thoughts on what AI means for us as therapists, across the different physical and manual professions.

But first…

The cautionary tale of Babylon: Once an ancient city with good healthcare (for its time ) it also became the name of a Healthcare tech company that launched in 2013 and went on to win contracts around the world, including with the NHS – Its valuation in 2021 was $4.2 Billion yet in 2023 the company had vanished due to bankruptcy.

What happened to Babylon? Many things, including over reliance on AI and a data breach. For example, a patient presenting with classic symptoms of a pulmonary em...

Do you have social media insurance? (Part One)

Don’t post videos online, get influencer insurance, your already covered, no your not. It’s fine just as long as no one from America watches them! I have heard all of these responses and none of them are helpful.

This is part one of my findings. In part two I will share the input from two well-known industry insurance companies.

Do you need extra insurance to post professional content on social media?

My Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece based on my research and understanding as a UK-registered physiotherapist (MCSP) and health content creator. It should not be interpreted as legal or definitive insurance advice. Always consult with your professional body and insurance provider for specific guidance related to your circumstances.

Why am I writing this?

As a fellow healthcare professional actively involved in creating and sharing health-related content on social media, and as someone who guides others in this space...

Learn how to effectively massage the scalene muscles with this quick guide! 💆‍♀️

These deep neck muscles often get tight, causing tension headaches and neck pain. This simple technique can help you find relief.

#scalenemassage #neckpainrelief #tensionheadache #selfmassage #deeptissuemassage #myofascialrelease #triggerpointtherapy #relaxationtechniques #wellnessjourney #bodypositive #painmanagement

If you or one of your clients is thinking of having an injection due to shoulder pain, then read this blog or watch this video first.

Shoulder pain is the third most common muscle and joint problem in adults over the age of 45. Injections, physical therapy, and surgery are the most common treatments offered for shoulder pain by healthcare providers.

Let's quickly review a few facts about shoulder injections. Starting with what substance do they inject?

In most cases, the preparation in the syringe will contain two different medications:

• For more immediate pain relief, a local anesthetic is added to a slower-acting anti-inflammatory steroid.
• The faster-acting local anesthetic helps to identify the problem because if the pain reduces after the injection, it indicates that the correct area or structure was injected and was the possible cause of the pain.

Shoulder injections may also contain one of these other compounds:

• Hyaluronic acid: This is a natural substance found in yo
...

How to Loosen a Stiff Knee - Simple Home Exercises to Teach your Clients 

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/0x5KrotT6Is

Can Fat Cause Pain?

Watch the Video: https://youtu.be/ug3qQCNgCQ4?si=RpWz_scryCRIC0R8

or read below...

Weight loss is commonly recommended to manage conditions like high cholesterol or knee pain, where the link to improved health is clear.

But what about shedding a few pounds for something like ongoing shoulder pain or persistent discomfort in the wrist and hand joints - these don’t even bear your bodyweight?

Why would weight loss matter in these cases?

The truth is excess body fat isn’t just an inert substance weighing us down.

Fat is metabolically active, secreting hormones and substances—many of which are harmful to our health.

These secretions are often pro-inflammatory and a potential contributor to pain.

How Does Fat Influence Pain?

Excess fat cells produce inflammatory mediators.

This increased inflammation often correlates with heightened pain levels.

Even consuming fatty foods can have a fast acting pro-inflammatory effect, potentially worsening inflammation-rel...

Feeling those heel pains? 👣 Your plantar fascia might be tight! Try this quick massage to relieve tension and soothe those sore soles. 💆‍♀️ #plantarfascia #footmassage #selfcare #painrelief #heelpain #massagetherapy #healthyfeet #wellbeing #relaxation #homecare