Is Shoulder Exercise the Best Treatment For Rotator Cuff Injuries?

Rotator cuff injuries can vary quite dramatically in their severity. Shoulder specific exercises will feature to some extent in all types of treatment for rotator cuff injuries. What differs is how much time should pass before you should start the exercise.

Shoulder Tendonitis for example is simply an inflammation of one or more of the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff. This is usually caused by over exertion. The muscle become inflamed and aches when you move it. Typical symptoms include an aching or sore shoulder and some discomfort when moving. Shoulder tendonitis is treated with rest, ice packs or anti-inflammatory drugs. Most cases of tendonitis will clear up in a matter of days. It is worthwhile starting some shoulder conditioning exercises to help to avoid future injuries. If the symptoms persist much past three days, get it checked out by a professional.

Depending on which tendon is inflamed Tendonitis can develop into a shoulder impingement. The supraspinatus muscle runs through a channel of bone at the top of the shoulder. If this become inflamed it can result in a shoulder impingement. The inflamed tendon gets pinched or trapped in the channel of bone.

Conservative treatment for this is much the same except the timescales are longer and the anti-inflammatory drugs may include steroid injections to reduce inflammation. Exercises to strengthen the shoulder will be the final stage in treatment. Typical symptoms are pain and stiffness in the shoulder accompanied by muscle weakness. Raising your arm to the front or side will result in a sharp pain at the top outer edge of the shoulder. It is important to avoid any movement that causes pain as this is a sign of further damage being done to the tendons. If you ignore a shoulder impingement and try to work through it, you may well end up with a rotator cuff tear where the tendon frays and becomes damaged. This is a much worse injury that will require a longer recovery time. Where an impingement does not respond to conservative treatment it may require surgery to free up the impingement and allow healing to start.

As previously mentioned, a rotator cuff tear can come about as a result of a shoulder impingement. They can also come about as the result of a knock or fall. Tears can be a partial tear where only a percentage of the tendon is damaged or a full thickness tear where the tendon has actually been severed or snapped.

Conservative treatment is again tried first. Rest, ice, anti-inflammatory drugs followed by shoulder specific exercises to strengthen the shoulder. Again the timescales will be considerably longer.

Some tears will require surgery to either initiate a repair or to tidy up the tear to facilitate better healing. Depending on someone’s level of activity with the damaged arm, some people, mainly older people are able to function pain free with a torn rotator cuff.

So, however you have damaged it, rest is the best treatment for rotator cuff injuries, make sure that you treat the inflammation properly and then exercise to strengthen the shoulder making sure that any exercise is pain free.

If you found this article useful or just plain interesting and would like to know more about the treatment for rotator cuff injuries then check out my site at

http://myrotatorcuffcure.blogspot.com

My name is Nick Bryant and I am an older dad to two young children aged seven and five. I am keen on staying fit and active so that I can enjoy an active life with my children as they grow. Having suffered a shoulder injury that put me out of action for several painful months, I was keen to share my experience and let others know how I managed a full recovery without surgery despite being told that it was necessary.

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