Getting shoulder pain when throwing a ball? You could have a rotator cuff injury! Rotator cuff injuries are conditions which affect the shoulder muscles and tendons which make up the 4 muscles surrounding the shoulder. These can include rotator cuff muscle tears, rotator cuff tendon dysfunction (tendinopathy), shoulder bursitis and shoulder impingement.

Signs and Symptoms

  • Pain on the outside of the shoulder or deep in the shoulder joint
  • Weakness with above shoulder height activities (e.g. Hanging washing out)
  • Pain lying on the painful shoulder
  • Common with labour intensive occupations

Key Stats and Facts

  • 20% of the population have some degree of rotator cuff muscle tears
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19540777
  • Approximately 1 in 3 rotator cuff injuries require surgery
    https://www.anationinmotion.org/value/rotator-cuff/

Uncover the process

  • Rotator cuff pain can be relieved by strengthening the muscles around your shoulder and shoulder blade
  • Rotator cuff pain can also be relieved with releasing the muscles and stiff joints surrounding the shoulder and the neck
  • The shoulder joint is a ball & socket joint. As the socket is quite shallow in the shoulder it relies on many muscles to work together to prevent rotator cuff pain. When there is dysfunction in the muscle system surrounding the shoulder this causes pinching of soft tissue between the two hard bones causing pain and inflammation in the shoulder joint.

Dos and Donts

  • Avoiding excessive above shoulder height activities
  • Avoid sleeping on painful shoulder
  • Avoid excessive reaching
  • If sitting at a desk, try to sit in correct posture as this will decrease the tension on the shoulder and neck.

Next Steps

  • We can relieve your Rotator Cuff pain by releasing the tight muscles and joints surrounding the shoulder and neck to reduce pain.
  • Then we will give you a small set of exercises to strengthen the correct muscles around the shoulder to prevent the shoulder from becoming painful again.