Posted on October 31st, 2009 | Comments (0)
This year in the USA around eight million people will visit their doctor complaining of shoulder problems.Between fifty five and sixty percent of those will be diagnosed as having a torn rotator cuff. I know it’s no comfort to find that you are only one of many but at least it means that there is money being invested in research.
It also means that there is lots of research going on and a wealth of information to help. However tempting, don’t try to work through a painful shoulder. Unlike a lot of other muscular injuries, a lot of shoulder injuries will only get worse if you try to work through them.
There are really only two or three major causes of shoulder injury. Wear and tear either through the aging process or repetitive movements, a direct injury such as a fall or knock to the shoulder or as in my case, trying to lift something that was too big and heavy.
Symptoms again fall into common areas which are pain, weakness and loss of movement. A classic symptom of shoulder injuries is the inability to lift your arm above shoulder height or to the side or in front of you. The amount of loss of movement is a good pointer to the amount of damage that you have suffered.
Most injuries in the shoulder involve muscles, tendons, cartilage or ligaments of the joint rather than the bones themselves. There are seventeen different muscles in and around the shoulder joint any one of which can lead to shoulder problems. Because the majority of shoulder injuries involve damage to the soft tissue rather than bones physical therapy features strongly in a lot of the treatments but it is essential that you do shoulder specific exercises aimed at your specific injury as the wrong exercises can cause more damage and you can end up with serious injuries.
The rotator cuff is a perfect example of this. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that help keep your shoulder joint safe. They all connect the humerus to the scapula. They are small muscles but extremely important for a healthy shoulder joint. These muscles run under and over other muscles and one of them, the supraspinatus muscle, even runs through a channel in the collar bone or clavicle. If you damage this muscle it can and become enflammed,getting pinched under the collar bone. Continuing to use this muscle can result in partial or complete tearsthat will need surgery to correct.
Most shoulder injury thearapies will focus on RICE. Rest, ice, compression and elevation but will also often focus on strengthening the muscles of the rotator cuff to improve stability in the joint. Any exercise that works on this group of muscles will involve small weights and specific movements that do not stress the muscles. If you experience pain then you are doing it wrong.
The shoulder also suffers from a poor blood supply so anything you do to stimulate the blood supply will help with recovery. Heat and massage will both help to increase the blood supply and improve healing. It is important to keep you shoulder as mobile as much as you can without causing yourself pain. Passive exercises will help. Lifting the injured arm with the good arm for example or simply swinging the arm gently can help but stop straight away if you experience any discomfort
See a doctor and find out what is wrong but also find out as much as you can about your shoulder and the best way to fix it. Remember you can never know too much!
About the Author
If you found this article interesting check out my full story at
www..myrotatorcuffcure.blogspot.com
My name is Nick Bryant and I tore my rotator cuff lifting something that was too heavy. Despite being told that I would need surgery I have managed a full recovery with just exercise. Check out one of my other articles on shoulder pain
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