Rotator Cuff Rehab The Three Step Answer

Alright, I know that if you have a rotator cuff injury at the moment the last thing you need is some happy soul being glib about how to put it right, but the truth is that for almost all of us rotator cuff rehab is really very simple. The only exceptions to that 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 most of us rotator cuff rehab is relatively simple.

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

A rotator cuff injury is an injury to the rotator cuff muscles. These are a group of four muscles that all attach to the scapula or shoulder blade at one end and the top of the 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 group work harder. Once you get your arm above shoulder height your rotator cuff is working at its hardest to stop the ball of the arm coming away from the socket of the shoulder joint

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

the muscles are all grouped closely together forming a cuff of muscle around the shoulder joint to help stabilise it. They run over the surface of the shoulder blade. One of them, the supraspinatus runs through a channel of bone at the top of the shoulder blade before it attaches to the humerus.

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 trapped or impinged by the bone which leads to further injury and pain. 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 really are three steps.

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

Step two, treat the inflammation. Try anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and use ice packs whenever you can. If that doesn't worksee if your doctor will give you a steroid injection.

Step three, once the cuff has started to settle down start a simple course of shoulder specific physical therapy exercises aimed at strengthening and rebuilding the rotator cuff muscles. These will involve small movements with light weights or low resistance that isolate and exercise this small but important group of muscles.

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

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