Shoulder Exercises - The Way to a Pain Free Shoulder
After damaging my rotator cuff about six months back I have used a lot of my time researching shoulder problems and shoulder therapy on the world wide web and have found out that exercise alone can sort out the vast majority of shoulder problems.
Towards the end of last year I tore my left rotator cuff. It was a nasty tear and I ended up with a shoulder impingement. Basically one of the tendons became inflamed after I lifted something heavy and pulled one of my rotator cuff muscles. As it becane inflamed it was getting impinged or pinched by my clavicle or collar bone. The pain was excruciating. Every time that I my shoulder in a particular direction my tendon was getting worn against the bone.
I tried a three month course of Ibuprofen, a steroid injection right into the muscle and cold compresses to reduce the swelling. All of them gave some relief and reduced the symptoms but each time the pain came back and nothing was getting better. In the end I was offered corrective surgery to shave away a small piece of bone to allow the tendon to move freely letting it heal. Being based in England, with the NHS waiting lists, the operation date was three months away and having already suffered three months of discomfort and pain I was reluctant to wait any longer.
So I started finding out about shoulder injuries and shoulder therapy and discovered that physical therapy can do a lot for rotator cuff problems.
The secret is to rest the arm to start off with and work on the inflammation. What I had been doing wrong was to try carrying on as normal which could have injured my arm even further. Once I rested it properly for two weeks I was able to start simple exercises designed isolate and strengthen my rotator cuff. It was bizarre because only a few weeks earlier the thought of doing shoulder exercises seemed absurd but it worked. It is vital not to experience pain when exercising as pain shows that you are further damaging the muscles so I started slowly and built up over five or six weeks until I found myself with a healthy, pain free shoulder that had its full range of movement restored.
Another four weeks on and I have just played my first round of golf. The shoulder exercises have not only sorted out my rotator cuff but they also seem to have improved my swing, or is that just wishful thinking?
Why did it work? I believe that as we age our stance changes, we don't stand as straight as we used to, we move differently to when we were younger. What I think is that the shoulder exercises have woken up some lazy muscles and changed my posture, only slightly, but enough to free up the problem muscles. Would I recommend exercise as a therapy for a rotator cuff problem?
100% Yes! Not every shoulder injury will respond to just exercise. Common sense would say that it must depend on what injury you have but ten weeks after I was told that surgery was the only option I am pain free and feel great. The surgery is postponed indefinitely at the moment.
Towards the end of last year I tore my left rotator cuff. It was a nasty tear and I ended up with a shoulder impingement. Basically one of the tendons became inflamed after I lifted something heavy and pulled one of my rotator cuff muscles. As it becane inflamed it was getting impinged or pinched by my clavicle or collar bone. The pain was excruciating. Every time that I my shoulder in a particular direction my tendon was getting worn against the bone.
I tried a three month course of Ibuprofen, a steroid injection right into the muscle and cold compresses to reduce the swelling. All of them gave some relief and reduced the symptoms but each time the pain came back and nothing was getting better. In the end I was offered corrective surgery to shave away a small piece of bone to allow the tendon to move freely letting it heal. Being based in England, with the NHS waiting lists, the operation date was three months away and having already suffered three months of discomfort and pain I was reluctant to wait any longer.
So I started finding out about shoulder injuries and shoulder therapy and discovered that physical therapy can do a lot for rotator cuff problems.
The secret is to rest the arm to start off with and work on the inflammation. What I had been doing wrong was to try carrying on as normal which could have injured my arm even further. Once I rested it properly for two weeks I was able to start simple exercises designed isolate and strengthen my rotator cuff. It was bizarre because only a few weeks earlier the thought of doing shoulder exercises seemed absurd but it worked. It is vital not to experience pain when exercising as pain shows that you are further damaging the muscles so I started slowly and built up over five or six weeks until I found myself with a healthy, pain free shoulder that had its full range of movement restored.
Another four weeks on and I have just played my first round of golf. The shoulder exercises have not only sorted out my rotator cuff but they also seem to have improved my swing, or is that just wishful thinking?
Why did it work? I believe that as we age our stance changes, we don't stand as straight as we used to, we move differently to when we were younger. What I think is that the shoulder exercises have woken up some lazy muscles and changed my posture, only slightly, but enough to free up the problem muscles. Would I recommend exercise as a therapy for a rotator cuff problem?
100% Yes! Not every shoulder injury will respond to just exercise. Common sense would say that it must depend on what injury you have but ten weeks after I was told that surgery was the only option I am pain free and feel great. The surgery is postponed indefinitely at the moment.
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