Dear Rider Jen

Lol, the overall management of tendinitis/tendinopathy, partial tendon tears are more or less the same...tendinopathy/tendinitis really will lead to a tendon tear because of scar tissue formed and the change in the properties of the tendon. The goals of physiotherapy would be to

1) reduce pain
2) maintain range of motion within pain limits
3) strengthen tendon

when you have a Wikipedia reference-linkrotator cuff issue like the one you describe, really the cause of the narrowing should be identified first. This is what would determine what the manaegment would look like...otherwise you wuld keep having treatments with no real results...

for instance, do you have bone forming underneath the acromion narrowing the space below causing the tendons to rub on it? if this is the case, no amount of physiotherapy will help...some form of surgical decompression would be the answer...

or is your scapular not rotating effectively to free the space where the rot cuff tendons pass underneath the acromion? if this is the case, then assessing where your scapular is resting at rest, in comparison with the other scapular. The rythmn between the arm and scapular that occurs during active and passive movements (that is when you lift your arm or when someone else does this for you).
is this a combination of the inability for your arm to roll outwards during the movement of elevation?
All this may suggest tightness and weakness in some structures causing that pathological movement predisposing to a narrowing underneath your acromion...
so maybe some manual work will be needed first to get your scapular free and to be able to move within the plane it needs to be...then maybe some reeducation of proper rythmn may be needed...
or could it be in combination caused by tightness/lengthening with neck structures connecting to your scapular....?

however, pain relief has to be achieved first...so maybe you would need a continual treatment of Ice or heat/cold...for as long as is necessary to reduce pain/inflammation...before any true active movement is practiced...

when the partial tear/tendinopathy is painless, then you can start reeducating and eccentric work...using at first a gravity eliminated plane....

these are just some methods of addressing this issue, some clinicians skilled in acupuncture may want to use this as well...

but again if you have a bony spur/osteophyte within that space...trust me, no form of physiotherapy will help....

So again...you need to suggest to your clinician about any arthritic changes and this has to be ruled out first...to determine whether physio is the way to go...

this would save you money on wasted treatment time...

see that i am thinking about how to save you money....lol