Torn Rotator Cuff Treatment - Exercise or Rest - What's Best?



Posted: Tuesday, November 03, 2009

by

Yes is the right answer but not in the same order. A lot depends on how badly you have torn it. Most cuff tears will get better with just rest and exercise but any serious partial tear or full thickness tear may require surgery before you do any therapy exercise.

The important thing with any torn rotator cuff treatment is to rest and let the tear begin to heal. Carrying on through rotator cuff pain is likely to leave you needing corrective surgery as you will do more damage to the tendons, so rest is the first thing that you need to do.

Along with rest, you need to reduce the inflammation before you can think about beginning any kind of exercise. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that help to stabilise the shoulder joint by pulling the head of the humerus into the socket of the shoulder joint. They are small but vital muscles that cover the shoulder joint forming a cuff of muscle that helps to support it, in doing so they run over and sometimes under the bones of the shoulder.

Any inflammation to these tendons can cause pain as the inflamed tendon can impinge or catch on bone. A classic example of this is the supraspinatus muscle which runs under the collar bone and the acromion of the shoulder blade. When this muscle become inflamed it can catch on the channel of bone and start to fray. Worst case scenario is that it could eventually snap leaving you needing shoulder surgery.

So let the muscles rest. This means avoiding any movement that is painful. If your work involves a lot of overhead movement you might need to modify the way in which you work. If you sit at a desk, you might need to rearrange your desk to avoid stretching or reaching movements with the damaged shoulder. It might even be necessary to take a few days off to rest the shoulder properly.

At the same times start to treat the inflammation. This could be by using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and also by using ice packs on the damaged muscle to help to reduce the swelling. If symptoms persist you may need to have a steroid injection into the muscle to reduce the inflammation. Your doctor should be able to do this for you.

Once the muscle has started to settle down you can begin simple exercises aimed at strengthening your rotator cuff muscles. Don't go rushing to the gym thinking that any type of exercise will do the trick. It won't. Using weights before the muscle has healed properly is likely to cause more damage.

Rotator cuff exercises use little or no resistance when recovering from an injury. They will begin with gentle exercises that do not cause any pain. If you do feel pain when exercising stop straight away as this is a sign of further damage being done. It may be that you started exercising too soon.

And don't forget, when your shoulder is better and back to its full pain free movement, don't just give up on the exercises. Rotator cuff injuries are common but a lot of them can be avoided by keeping the rotator cuff muscles strong so just take five or ten minutes a day to keep them in shape. 

Torn rotator cuff treatment doesn't have to be hard.
Nick Bryant lives in Shropshire in the UK with his wife and two young children where he is a director in their family recruitment business. His hobbies and interests tend to be family orientated and focussed on the outdoors and sporting activities. He is the proud owner of a vintage VW camper and he and his family spend a great deal of their spare time at the coast camping, body-boarding and surfing in the summer months. He is also a keen golfer. He writes on a number of subjects around personal health and well being and has recently started a blog at http://www.strongershoulders.com.
This Article has been viewed 383 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.