The rotator cuff injuries come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from simple tendonitis to a few days of inconvenience, until full thickness tears can cause serious problems and may even require surgery.

What they all have in common is that if you want your shoulders to work properly, you need to do some physical treatment for rotator cuff damage or some sort of shoulder-specific exercise program.

The shoulder is a very complicated joint. Although there are only three bones in the shoulder, there are twenty-two different muscles in the shoulder movement.

Four of the rotator cuffs are responsible for the majority of shoulder injuries.

These four muscles help pull the humeral head into the shoulder and stabilize the joint. They also help to initiate the rotational movement of the arms, which makes them part of their name.

These muscles are difficult to isolate in any exercise program and are often overlooked. As we age, we become vulnerable to rotator cuff injuries.

For example, tendinitis is only inflammation of one or more rotator cuff muscles. This is usually considered through exercise. Failure to preheat or stretch before using the arm does not result in stiffness and shoulder pain. After treating inflammation, tendinitis usually disappears after two or three days. If not, it is worth checking out by a medical professional.

If you start to have shoulder tendonitis, once the inflammation and pain subsides, you should start a shoulder-specific exercise program to strengthen the shoulder. This helps prevent future injuries. Think of tendonitis just as your body fires a warning to you.

Tendinitis is inflammation of the tendon. What sometimes happens is that an inflamed tendon can cause a shoulder impact. A tendon of the rotator cuff passes through the bone passage at the top of the shoulder. When the tendon is inflamed, it is squeezed by the bone, causing a shoulder impact.

Treatment is roughly the same as tendonitis. Need to treat inflammation, use ice packs and anti-inflammatory drugs to release the impact. Sometimes doctors may recommend using steroid injections to reduce swelling. Only when the exchange is reduced and the pain stops, can you start exercising to strengthen your shoulders.

If you ignore the shoulder impact and continue to pass it, you may end up with a rotator cuff tear. This is due to the fact that the tendon rubs on the bone and wears out gradually. The treatment is similar, but the time scale is significantly longer.

The rotator cuff tears also occur due to knocking or falling.

An important part of all rotator cuff injuries is to rest muscles and treat inflammation and pain before any exercise. Neglecting shoulder injuries always leads to more pain and longer recovery time.

Physical therapy for rotator cuff injury – When should you do it, if any? was originally published on Spring