Importance Of Health & Fitness

By: Nick Bryant
Category: Exercise

A tear to your rotator cuff can come about for a variety of reasons. For some of us it will simply be as a result of wear and tear as we age. Although this is an injury that is most common in the over fifties, it can also come about as the result of a fall or knock or even simply through a constantly repeated action such as throwing a baseball . This is why it is sometimes referred to as pitcher’s shoulder.

Surgery is most often restricted to the unlucky few who have either managed to get a full thickness tear or whose injury does not respond to conventional treatment.

So what is the best type of torn rotator cuff treatment?

First off you need to rest the muscles! You have to let the shoulder heal properly and if you carry on using it, you will slow down the recovery process and may even end up causing a serious injury. Depending on which of the cuff muscles you have managed to damage some of your shoulder movements will cause pain. The classic symptoms for a Supraspinatus tear for example are pain when reaching for anything or when lifting your arm above shoulder height, difficulty reaching behing you and trouble sleeping because the shoulder is so tender. If you continue to do the same movements that you find painful you will simply damage the muscle even more which could result in a full thickness muscle tear that will definitely need surgery.

Next, you need to look after the pain and inflammation. This is usually done with anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen or with steroid injections. Treating the inflammation will sometimes help with the pain simply because a lot of the pain in shoulder injuries is caused by inflamed tendons getting pinched. Ultra sound can also be used to help with the inflammation and help to improve healing.

Once the muscle has settled down and movement has become easier it is time to start exercising the rotator cuff muscles to build up their strength. Torn rotator cuff treatment will involve small exercises with little or no resistance. These are small muscles that often suffer injury as a result of neglect. Most of us are unaware of how important these muscles are until we manage to injure them, but they are key to a strong and healthy shoulder, holding the arm into the socket as we lift and move.Just a small increase in the strength of the rotator cuff can have a dramatic affect on the overall strength of the shoulder.

Rotator cuff specific exercises are needed. If you start working out with weights this is likely to simply work the major muscles of the shoulder and do nothing for the rotator cuff. Rotator cuff exercises will isolate these muscles waking them up, building their strength. You’ll be surprised just how quickly your shoulder will get better once you get these muscles back to full health.

But remember, rest and treat the inflammation before you start any rotator cuff exercises. If you need to modify how you work in order to rest your shoulder then do it. Working through a rotator cuff injury can only lead to further injury.

And finally. It is worth mentioning that self diagnosis of shoulder problems is not a good idea. Different injuries need different treatments and it’s worth getting it right just to avoid further problems.

Rotator Cuff Specific Exercises are the quickest way back to a healthy shoulder. I know because it worked for me. Check out the torn rotator cuff treatment that stopped me needing surgery. Read my story here www..myrotatorcuffcure.blogspot.com