Introduction

Shoulder impingement syndrome is pain and often weakness when you raise your arm, caused by a muscle tendon "catching" in your shoulder.

It involvestherotator cuff tendon a tough, rubbery cord that connects the muscles in your shoulder to the top of your arm. The tendon and muscle run through a narrow space at the top of the shoulder called thesubacromial space.

In shoulder impingement syndrome, the tendon becomes trapped in this space and repeatedly scrapes against the bone above, causing painthat tends to be worse when you raise your arm over your head.

You may also experience a persistent ache in your shoulder and pain at night.

Shoulder impingement syndromecan start suddenly after an injury, or (generally from middle age onwards) it can come on gradually without any obvious cause.

Content supplied by the NHS Website

Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 24 Nov 2016