The information contained within these pages is the property of the Medical Multimedia Group and we retain all rights regarding its content. Alteration of these documents in any way is a violation of the copyright. The shoulder is a very complex piece of machinery. As long as all the parts are in good working order, the shoulder can move freely and painlessly.
Many people refer to any pain in the shoulder as bursitis.
The term bursitis really only means that the part of the shoulder called the bursa is inflamed. Tendonitis is when a tendon gets inflamed and can be another source of pain in the shoulder. Many different problems can cause inflammation of the bursa or tendons. Impingement syndrome is one of those problems. The rotator cuff connects the humerus to the scapula.