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A Rotator Cuff Tear is more common than you might think

By: Nick Bryant

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Eight million people will visit their family doctor complaining of shoulder pain this year in the USA.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 millions but at least it means that there is money being invested in research.

It also means that there are a lot of resources and information available to help. Whatever you do, don't try to work through a painful shoulder. Unlike a lot of other muscular injuries, nearly all shoulder injuries will only deteriorate if you try to work through them.

There are generally two or three major causes of shoulder injury. Aging leading to wear and tear, a repetitive movement, 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 raise 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 the muscles, ligaments, tendons and cartilage of the joint rather than the bones themselves. The shoulder contains seventeen different muscles any one of which can lead to a painful shoulder. Because the majority of shoulder injuries involve damage to the soft tissue rather than bones physical therapy features strongly in most 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 classic 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 under the collar bone. If you damage this muscle it can get inflamed and get pinched under the collar bone. Continuing to use this muscle can result in partial or complete tearsthat will need corrective surgery.

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 to work 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. Massage and heat 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. Exercises where you do not use the muscles of the injured arm will help. Lifting the injured arm with the good arm for example or simply swinging the arm gently can help but stop immediately if you experience any discomfort

See a doctor, get a diagnosis 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!

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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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