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Rotator Cuff Rehab -As Easy as 1,2,3

By: Nick Bryant

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Okay, I know that if you have injured your rotator cuff right now the last thing you need is some happy person being glib about how to put it right, but the truth is that for a lot of us rotator cuff rehab is really very simple. The only exceptions to that rule are if you have either managed to acquire a bad tear or what is known as a full thickness tear. If you have then you'll be booking corrective surgery before you are able to start using that shoulder again.

But, as I said, for the majority of us rotator cuff rehab is relatively simple.

The first thing that you need to understand is what kind of injury you have, because when you do, then you can start to understand just how you are going to fix it.

A rotator cuff injury is damage to the muscles of the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that all connect to the shoulder blade at one end and the top of humerus or upper arm at the other. What they do, in the great scheme of things, is to help hold the arm in place as you move. Depending on what movements you make, different muscles within the cuff work harder. Once you get your arm above shoulder height your rotator cuff is working at its hardest to prevent the ball of the humerus coming away from the socket of the shoulder joint

Which is why when you hurt your rotator cuff it always seems to hurt worst when you lift your arm above shoulder height or reach for something.

the muscles are all grouped tightly together forming a cuff of muscle around the joint to help stabilise it. They run over the surface of the shoulder blade. One of them, called the supraspinatus runs through a channel of bone towards the top of the shoulder blade before attaching to the upper arm.

This is the tendon that causes the most trouble with a cuff injury because when it gets inflamed and starts to swell it has nowhere to go so it starts to get pinched by the bone which leads to further pain and injury. Think of it like an old being rubbed against a hard surface. Sooner or later it will start to fray and eventually it will snap.

So if you want a rotator cuff to heal completely there are really three steps.

Step one, Let the muscle rest so that it can heal. That means avoiding any painful movements. That may involve changing the way that you work for a week or two or even taking some time off.

Step two, work on the the inflammation. Try anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and start using ice packs whenever you are able. If that doesn't work ask your doctor for a steroid injection.

Step three, when the muscle has started to settle down start a simple course of shoulder specific physical therapy exercises aimed at strengthening and rebuilding the muscles of the rotator cuff. These will be small movements with little or no resistance that isolate and exercise this small but important group of muscles.

It's quite simple really. Muscles can't get better unless you rest them. Carrying on through a rotator cuff injury will cause more damage. Let the inflammation go down before you start exercise and do exercises that strengthen the right muscles.

Told you it was simple! I know because that's exactly how I fixed my shoulder.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

If you want to know how i fixed my torn rotator cuff with justrotator cuff rehab without shoulder surgery that I was told I needed, check out my story at www.myrotatorcuffcure.blogspot.com

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