GenInv – Health and Wellness

I had the bad luck to get a rotator cuff tear towards the end of last year which really focused me on this group of muscles and not only how to fix them but also how to go about keeping them healthy. Some of what I found out quite surprised me and if I had known then what I now know about rotator cuff injury exercise I would definitely have gone about things differently.

So read along and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

If you have managed to damage your rotator cuff the first st

ep on the road to health is stop using it. No, don’t put your arm in a sling but do avoid any movement that gives you pain. I know that is easier said than done. We use our arms constantly, we swing our arms when we walk or run. If you drop something, you instinctively reach out to catch it. We use our hands and consequently our arms to communicate. Resting our arms goes against our nature.

However, if you do not stop using your damaged shoulder, if you carry on doing the movements that caus

e you pain you will simply end up damaging your arm further. Trust me, I did it! You must change how you move and work for two or three weeks to allow the muscle to heal properly. This is because the rotator cuff can get pinched or impinged when it is inflamed. That impingement causes the tendons to fray and if you ignore it they will eventually snap which is extremely bad news.

So, while you are taking it easy, take anti-inflammatory drugs and use ice packs to bring down the inflammation.

I made the mistake of carrying on as normal with a rotator cuff injury and made it a lot worse. I had tries anti-inflammatory drugs but only half heartedly. It was only when I finally decided to rest my arm completely and maxed out on anti-inflammatories for about three weeks that I saw any improvement.

Do not play at treating the injury. Look after your shoulder properly. If you are following a doctor’s advice, follow it completely, don’t kid yourself.

Once you have managed to get the inflammation and pain calmed doen do not go straight back to using your shoulder exactly as pre-injury. You need to build up the rotator cuff and shoulder. This does not mean pushing weights and exercising the major muscles like the trapeziums. The rotator cuff is a group of relatively small muscles that are focused on keeping ball and socket joint pulled together.

We use them without thinking and any exercise to strengthen them will not involve large weights. Rotator cuff injury exercise tends to be more Pilates based exercises concentrating on flexibility and control rather than power. Get your rotator cuff up to strength and your whole shoulder will be stronger. Ignore it and you are likely to have another injury pretty soon.

So. Like I said before, learn from my mistakes. Treat a rotator cuff injury seriously. Rest it properly, no matter how inconvenient it is. Treat the inflammation and soreness for a few weeks, don’t stop as soon as it stops being painful, carry on for a bit. When you are ready to start exercising begin with gentle exercises that focus on the rotator cuff. And keep doing the exercises when it is better. You do not want a second rotator cuff injury.