BALANCE IN MOTION BODYWORK
Santa Barbara Massage & Pain Therapy
How is Rotator Cuff Tear Treated?
Small and medium size rotator cuff tears usually heal successfully with appropriate massage and bodywork therapy. I will also be able to significantly reduce yur pain Unfortunately, large rotator cuff tears may require rotator cuff surgery. Early rotator cuff tear treatment is important. Delay will result in retraction of your rotator cuff tendon, which can make healing or rotator cuff repair surgery more difficult and less successful.The best rotator cuff tear treatment results occur when the rotator cuff injury is fresh.
Researchers have concluded that there are essentially 7 stages that need to be covered to effectively rehabilitate rotator cuff tears and prevent recurrence.
-
Early Injury Protection: Pain Relief & Anti-inflammatory Tips
-
Regain Full Shoulder Range of Motion
-
Restore Scapular Control
-
Restore Normal Neck-Scapulo-Thoracic-Shoulder Function
-
Restore Rotator Cuff Strength
-
Restore High Speed, Power, Proprioception & Agility
-
Return to Sport or Work
Balance in Motion will provide pain treatment, improve function and restore full range of motion.
Rotator Cuff Injuries
What is the Rotator Cuff?
Your shoulder’s rotator cuff are a very important group of four small shoulder muscles that stabilise, control and move your shoulder joint. When your rotator cuff muscles work in isolation, they exhibit rotational motion at the shoulder joint, which is why they are termed the rotator cuff. Your subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus and teres minor muscles are the four muscles that, together, make up your rotator cuff.
Rotator Cuff injuries
People most susceptible to rotator cuff injuries are often older than 40 years of age and/or have bone spurs on their shoulder bone. There is a high incidence of rotator cuff injuries among women. These injuries can also affect younger people who often participate in new or repetitive activities, are already injured and/or have chronic weakness in their shoulder.
Sometimes pain in the shoulder is caused by trigger points and adhesions in the muscle tissue, which can generally be treated with Trigger Point Therapy, Myofascial Release and Proprioceptive Deep Tendon Reflex Therapy (P-DTR). Long periods of sedentary shoulder movement, such as after surgery, can eventually lead to Frozen Shoulder Syndrome.
Rotator Cuff Tendinitis and Bursitis
Overstraining the rotator cuff can lead to inflammation in your shoulder joint, which can result in tendinitis (also spelled tendonitis) and bursitis. You can experience these conditions independently or simultaneously. Failure to take action against the inflammation can cause an impingement (pinching of the soft tissue), and produce further degeneration which frequently results in a major rotator cuff strain and/or tear. These injuries can often lead to surgery.
Mild inflammation can cause your rotator cuff tendons and bursa to swell and rub against or snag the acromion, or rub against a ligament at the front of your shoulder. When your arm is raised in a forward, reaching or overhead position the rotator cuff tendons and bursa can be pinched (impingement), which causes further swelling. Impingement syndrome occurs when your tendon and/bursa becomes pinched and tissue begins to break down near the humerus bone as a result of this inflammation and swelling. If this continues, your pain will get worse, and your tendon may split or completely tear away from the bone.
Inflammation of your rotator cuff tendons or bursa will produce redness, swelling, and soreness in your shoulder soft tissue. Tendonitis is often due to overuse or repetitive actions common in athletes or workers who use frequent overhead arm movements such as throwing a ball, swinging a racquet, swimming, lifting weights, dusting high shelves, painting, or completing manual labor tasks. Decreased space in your rotator cuff will result from the above, as well as from anatomical differences in the shape of your shoulder bone, or arthritis. These will trigger pain, limit the use of your shoulder, and can lead to chronic tendonitis. This condition is often referred to as Swimmer's shoulder, Pitcher's shoulder, Tennis Shoulder, or Shoulder impingement syndrome.
Rotator Cuff Instability/Impingement
A muscle strength and flexibility imbalance or weakness, can cause instability and result in a subluxation or partial dislocation (your shoulder bones slide in and out of their sockets) or a full dislocation (the head of the arm bone slips out of the shoulder socket). These can cause a lot of pain and discomfort in your rotator cuff soft tissue. People with frequent dislocations often require surgery.
Shoulder instability which may have been present since birth or due to an injury, can also occur over time from overstraining, poor posture or inactivity. The rotator cuff is overworked, becomes weak and has difficulties stabilizing your shoulder, which in turn causes inflammation. If your rotator cuff becomes weak and tired, the head of your arm bone can squash up against the acromion and can result in a tear. This is often a major cause of rotator cuff tears in individuals over 40 years of age.
What is a Rotator Cuff Tear?
A rotator cuff tear is quite simply a tear of your shoulder’s rotator cuff tendons.
Traumatic rotator cuff tears occur quickly or under heavy load like a fall or lifting a heavy weight. However, the most common cause of a rotator cuff tear is repeated micro-trauma, which can occur over several weeks months or years.
Repeated rotator cuff injury from straining or pinching the rotator cuff tendons will injure the soft tissue resulting in bruising or swelling. Since there are only a few inches separating your rotator cuff tendons from a bony hood (acromion), the additional swelling causes a quicker impingement, catching or squeezing of the rotator cuff tendons.
What are Rotator Cuff Tear Symptoms?
Your rotator cuff tears may be partial or full thickness tears. You will will notice that your shoulder pain and weakness increases with the severity of your rotator cuff tear. More importantly, it is a reduction in your shoulder function that is important.
Partial rotator cuff tear may only present with mild shoulder pain, clicking during shoulder elevation and mild shoulder weakness lifting your hand above shoulder height or reaching behind your back.
Full thickness rotator cuff tear will normally present with severe shoulder pain and an inability to lift your elbow away from your body. However, in some cases the rotator cuff tear is so severe that a significant number of your pain fibres are also torn, which can make them less painful but very weak.
When you have a small rotator cuff tear you can often still raise your arm with or without pain. Moderate tears are usually very painful and you’ll have difficulty moving your arm. Most patients can’t sleep due to the relentless pain. When a large rotator cuff tear occurs you may find that you are unable to lift your arm at all.