For patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy, there is low-to moderate quality evidence supporting the use of manual therapy to reduce pain, but not to improve function.
Key messages from this Snapshot Summary include:
- Tendinopathy is generally accepted to be the result of tendon derangement and adverse mechanical loading, in the absence of inflammation.
- For patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy, there is low-to moderate quality evidence supporting the use of manual therapy to reduce pain, but not to improve function.
- For patients with lateral knee or elbow ‘tendinitis’, there is mixed evidence to support the application of manual therapy (specifically deep friction massage) to improve pain and function.
The full Snapshot Summary is available as a PDF to download.