| The phrase torn rotator cuff covers a multitude of | | | | tendon to become inflamed. As it swells it becomes |
| injuries. Firstly there are four muscles in the rotator | | | | trapped under the collar bone. If rest doesn't reduce |
| cuff, any one of which can be torn. Secondly there are | | | | the inflammation it may be necessary to operate to |
| degrees of tear and finally, how you tear your rotator | | | | shave away a piece of bone to free up the trapped |
| cuff can influence the treatment and how it responds | | | | tendon. |
| to therapy. | | | | The good news is that most shoulder injuries are soft |
| Think of the tendons of this group of muscles as an | | | | tissue damage and don't involve bone damage so a lot |
| old rope that you have kept in the trunk of your car | | | | are curable with rest and exercise in that order. Rest |
| and used occasionally for towing. It could break for | | | | to allow the muscle or tendon to heal and exercise to |
| several reasons. It could simply fray over time | | | | start strengthening them again. Never try working |
| because of age and over use. If you relate this to a | | | | through a shoulder injury as it will almost inevitably lead |
| torn muscle, this could be a fairly easy tear to fix as it | | | | to more damage. |
| has happened quite gently, the trauma to the muscle is | | | | Although treatment may well involve anti-inflammatory |
| slight and it may be that simply rest and exercise | | | | drugs and pain killers be careful not to overdo it with |
| would be enough to fix it. | | | | these and mask the symptoms as this can lead to |
| If on the other hand your rope snapped because you | | | | further injury simply because you are hiding the |
| tried pulling something that was too heavy, it could | | | | problem rather than dealing with it. |
| have snapped clean through or stretched, pulling the | | | | Physical therapy to strengthen the rotator cuff will help |
| filaments apart. Relate this to a shoulder injury and you | | | | with a huge percentage of shoulder injuries and will |
| could be looking at something that needs surgery to fix | | | | also help to prevent future injuries. As we age our |
| a bad tear or complete break. | | | | rotator cuff weakens, which in turn weakens our |
| Putting aside my old tow rope, whenever tendons join | | | | shoulders and makes them more susceptible to injury. |
| to bone there is a possible weakness. Lifting too much | | | | Even healthy people can benefit from rotator cuff |
| weight or lifting badly can cause the tendon to | | | | exercises simply because it wakes up these muscles |
| become detached or a piece of bone to break away. | | | | and prevents injuries. |
| In this case you would almost definitely be looking at | | | | With 30% of us suffering a shoulder injury at some |
| surgery as part of the treatment. | | | | time in our lives it is well worth considering as |
| Another cause for possible surgery is a shoulder | | | | prevention is definitely better than a cure. |
| impingement. This is caused when an injury causes the | | | | |