Hi,

There is no definitive answer as to how long tendonitis should last. It depends on what the contributing factors to the shoulder pain/ problem (in your case, it seems to be both the bursa and the tendon).

It sounds that you are on the right track with the shoulder rehab, with your theraband and stretching exercises. As a clinician, I usually go by the very rough time frame of a 3-month trial of conservative treatment. If there is no response, or the response is slow, then I start looking for other causes of the problem (ie, my initial thinking was not correct and hence the treatment wasnt effective), or if I was sure of my original diagnosis, then perhaps that the patient wasnt going to respond to conservative treatment.

The questions I may raise in regards to what you have written above are:

1. In your rehab so far, how much improvement and progress do you think you have made? Have specific answers such as "I couldnt lift my arm past 90 deg 3 months ago but now I can lift it to 120 deg" and an overall percentage score for improvement for eg, "I think I am 70% better now than first injury", then think about what the 30% lacking is. This gives you an idea if you think you are heading the right direction with your conservative treatment.

2. What other information can I get about my injury. Have you had XRays, ultrasound scans done to determine the extent of your injury? This may help to shed light on why you havent responded to rehab the way you would have liked to.

I have to stress - do think about the above 2 points in consultation with your physio or health care provider. Since they know your history, they would be the best people to assist you in your decision-making and information-gathering.

Gotta run - late for work! Hope this helps.