Rotator Cuff Injury Exercises -Start Them Before You Have An Injury!
Posted: Thursday, November 12, 2009
by Nick Bryant
Rotator cuff injuries are the most common shoulder injury. Almost eight million Americans are going to suffer from a shoulder problem this year and around 60% of them will be a rotator cuff injury. So when should you be starting rotator cuff injury exercises.
The obvious answer is when you have damaged your rotator cuff but if more of us thought about them before we injured them, there would be fewer people waiting at the doctor.
If you do any kind of sports that involve overhead movement you are at risk of injury. Javelin throwers, Baseball Players and tennis players are all at risk simply because these muscles are put under most strain when your arms are above shoulder height. Add a sporting activity to that and you have a recipe for problems especially if you never exercise the rotator cuff.
Does your work or even a hobby involve working above shoulder height? Rotator cuff injury is a classic injury for painters and decorators or plasterers.
Are you over forty? If so then you are more at risk. As we get older these muscles weaken through lack of exercise and then suddenly we'll decide to work them hard unexpectedly. Through a ball with the kids, start playing sport again at fifty. The muscles just are not prepared for it and the shock usually causes injury. Five minuets of feeling youthful again can leave you in pain for weeks.
If you fit any of the above groups then you are already at risk and need to be exercising your rotator cuff on a regular basis. The great news is that it will not take long on a daily basis and you will hardly work up a sweat. These are small muscles that you exercise with eother no weight or very small weights. Most of rotator cuff exercises for both damaged and healthy muscles are Pilates basedand involve slow gentle exercises that are more about control than intensity
The biggest difference if you have already torn or damaged your rotator cuff is that it needs to heal before you start any type of exercise. If you feel pain when you lift your arm, or reach for something then you probably have a rotator cuff injury. If you can't reach behind you or lie on your shoulder without pain then it is too late to start preventative exercise and too soon to start therapeutic exercise.
Rotator cuff problems are painful when you move because the muscles get pinched when they are inflamed and any movement is simply causing more damage. Rest the injury, treat the inflammation and manage the pain before you try any sort of exercise.
You will probably do the same exercises to repair a shoulder as you will to prevent shoulder problems so if you haven't yet hurt your shoulder, there is no better time to start. After all, you have a one in three chance of a rotator cuff injury and five or ten minutes a day is all it will take to keep your shoulders healthy and pain free.
If I could turn back the clock to pre-injury, I would be doing rotator cuff injury exercises every day and avoid all these problems..
Having torn my rotator cuff and ending up with a shoulder impingement I started to research shoulders and the rotator cuff to better understand my own injury. Check out my blog at http://www.strongershoulders.com
The obvious answer is when you have damaged your rotator cuff but if more of us thought about them before we injured them, there would be fewer people waiting at the doctor.
Does your work or even a hobby involve working above shoulder height? Rotator cuff injury is a classic injury for painters and decorators or plasterers.
Are you over forty? If so then you are more at risk. As we get older these muscles weaken through lack of exercise and then suddenly we'll decide to work them hard unexpectedly. Through a ball with the kids, start playing sport again at fifty. The muscles just are not prepared for it and the shock usually causes injury. Five minuets of feeling youthful again can leave you in pain for weeks.
If you fit any of the above groups then you are already at risk and need to be exercising your rotator cuff on a regular basis. The great news is that it will not take long on a daily basis and you will hardly work up a sweat. These are small muscles that you exercise with eother no weight or very small weights. Most of rotator cuff exercises for both damaged and healthy muscles are Pilates basedand involve slow gentle exercises that are more about control than intensity
The biggest difference if you have already torn or damaged your rotator cuff is that it needs to heal before you start any type of exercise. If you feel pain when you lift your arm, or reach for something then you probably have a rotator cuff injury. If you can't reach behind you or lie on your shoulder without pain then it is too late to start preventative exercise and too soon to start therapeutic exercise.
Rotator cuff problems are painful when you move because the muscles get pinched when they are inflamed and any movement is simply causing more damage. Rest the injury, treat the inflammation and manage the pain before you try any sort of exercise.
You will probably do the same exercises to repair a shoulder as you will to prevent shoulder problems so if you haven't yet hurt your shoulder, there is no better time to start. After all, you have a one in three chance of a rotator cuff injury and five or ten minutes a day is all it will take to keep your shoulders healthy and pain free.
If I could turn back the clock to pre-injury, I would be doing rotator cuff injury exercises every day and avoid all these problems..
Having torn my rotator cuff and ending up with a shoulder impingement I started to research shoulders and the rotator cuff to better understand my own injury. Check out my blog at http://www.strongershoulders.com
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