luvsredbeaver

What are some good exercises for rehabing a bad rotator cuff?

I know one thing I probably should do is stop lifting heavy on the bench, but that is a last resort. My right cuff is painfull enough that I don't do very much shoulder work other than rear delts. A military press would just about kill me right now. When I raise my right arm I get a painful "POP" in my shoulder joint at about 70 to 80 degrees. Surgery is pretty much out of the question unless it gets much worse.

Distraction

Do you know what you did to it? If not you really may want to go to a doctor to at least find out what's wrong.

My dad hurt his shoulder about a year ago but didn't go to the doctor until the pain became unbearable. That's when he found out he had originally torn a couple muscles in his shoulder, but since he had kept using it, the muscles had ripped away completely.

The shoulder is one of those parts of your body that you really don't want to screw around with if you know you've hurt it badly.

Rodney

You want to make sure that your front delts aren't overdeveloped compared to your rear delts. That's not a rotator cuff problem, but it can feel very similar. The front delts overpower the rears, and pull the tendon out of place. Causes all kinds of hell. But you say you're doing rear delt exercises already sooo maybe I'm blowing smoke.

raeanna74

If it is a rotator cuff problem you should probably see a Dr.

Hubby had a mildly torn cuff 2 years ago. Did some exercises with an elastic band as many times as he could without too much pain. Then increased that slowly as it got better.

My Dad on the other hand had a severely torn rotator cuff that he let go. A couple years later they had to go in, shave off a number of burrs on both the cartilage and the bone from the friction the tear had caused over time. They also did what they could to repair the tear - put in a mesh I believe for the new cartilage to cling to as it filled in. Then just last year they discovered that his ligaments had been torn off from the bone in the same injury that caused the torn rotator cuff they ended up having to replace some of the muscle by then because it had atrophied and pulled away from the bone.

Judging from these experiences it seems best to get things checked - you may be preventing a lot of extra work and therapy later. Good luck.

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Jim Kata

BUMP.

I have rotator cuff tendonitis. My doc recommended physical therapy. Unfortunatly I don't want to spend the $40 a week to get this done. Anyone ever have to go through this? If so, what did they have you do?

"Did some exercises with an elastic band as many times as he could without too much pain. Then increased that slowly as it got better."

what kind of excersices?


Thanks in advance.

raeanna74

The therapist had hubby do curls with the band attached to the bottom of one of the machines (you could attach it the the sofa leg or something else low and heavy.

Also Had him hold his arm out to the side parallel to the floor, lower it downto in front of his body keeping the elbow straight, then pull the elastic back up and out to the orginal position.

Also catching and throwing a weighted ball against a trampoline. Maybe you could get someone to throw a heavy ball back and forth with you. The catching it was as important as the throwing. When doing this one make sure you hold the ball in the center of your chest and push out away with your palms out. Extend your arms all the way out and when recieving it repeat the motion.

He also had hubby lie on his back with a small handweight and push his hand up straight from his body. His arm would then be perpendicular to the floor. Then he lowered his arm out away from his body so that his elbow and upper arm would be touching the floor. His forearm would still be perpendicular to the floor.

I will ask hubby if he remembers any others that would help too. These are all I remember at the moment. There was a lot of different directions that he had to go with the band. If I remember right most of them he had to keep his elbow straight and do most of the moment from the shoulder. Whatever you do be careful not to cause more harm. If you need it - ice your shoulder after working it to keep inflammation from causing more damage.

I hope these were clear enough to understand. If you need any clarifications hubby or I could probably explain it better. FYI Hubby is dei37 here.

Hubby's injury wasn't tendonitis. It was for a minorly torn rotator cuff. He does not have any trouble with it now. With tendonitis it would definately be helpful to ice it when it does hurt. "itis" means inflammation and icing it would help that. Did you Physician prescribe anything to help with inflammation?

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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Jim Kata

Thanks for that info.
They gave me some Vioxxx (anti inflammatory) and it worked great, but I have an ulcer and it messes with that...so then they moved me on to pain killers. That was good until I kept asking for a refill every couple of months. Now they won't prescribe me them. Rush Limbaugh anyone??
But after reading your post i realize that I should probably have it professionally done, it would really suck to be doing the excersices listed above with too much resistance or too little.
Thanks a million. Now its just a matter of getting out there and doing it. I hope my doctors "prescription" for the physical therapy is still good after 3 years....
(oh and i just got out of tilted exhibition...and i just have to say one more thing to you raeanna, rrrooowwwrrrrrrr )

highthief

Having twice had the problem due to two different causes I can say that deep tissue therapy helped the first time, and the second rest and special stretches the second. A good one is to stand next to the wall, extend your arm up the wall, and then try to gradually extend/stretch your arm even further above your head until you really have reached max.

But I agree with Distraction - see the local quack for a proper diagnosis and consequently, the right treatment. If he can recommend a sports doc, even better.

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seizei

Have rotator cuff problems myself, mostly gone now though.

Here's the regimen of rehab exercises I did (And still do once in awhile).


#1. Stand about a foot from the wall, facing it. Hold your bad arm up at a 45 degree angle, with the pinky-side of your hand on the wall. Shrug your shoulder up as high as you can, then drop it. Do this 15 times. It should hurt a little at first if you're doing it right.

#2. link both hands together behind your back, just below the waist. Try to touch your shoulder blades together, without sticking your face forward. Maintain a straight posture. Squeeze 15 times.

#3. Roll up a small towel and put it under your armpit, as far up as you can go. With your arm holding the towel under your armpit, reach back behind you until your hand is resting on the opposite hip, behind your back. Grab that wrist with your other hand and pull to the outside, like you're continuing the reaching behind the back motion of the first arm. It should feel like you are separating and stretching your shoulder muscles... feels really good to me

Next, get a band, of decent resistance (black colour is good).
Tie a knot in one end. Stand beside a door. Put the knotted end into the door, with the knot on the other side, and close the door. Band should be secured perfectly at any height you want.

#4. Band secured at eye level, stand with door on right, wrapping free end of band around right hand.
Start with your arm up if front of your face, in an 'arm-wrestling' position. ROtate your arm slowly, like you are 'winning' the arm wrestling match. Do the negative motion slowly as well. 15 times. Then turn around and repeat with other arm.

Note: You can turn facing away from the door and do this with your arm out to your side, like you're cheering. This the the 'unprotected' version of the 'protected' movement described above.

#5. Same set up as #4, but lower the knotted end to waist level in the doorway, and face the opposite way, so you are rotating arm away from the door. start with arm parallel to floor, like you are about to win arm-wrestling match, and rotate upward, like your opponent is bringing you back up to the start point in the match. Can do protected or unprotected.

Those are the ones I do, hopefull I was able to describe them so you know what the hell I'm trying to say.

Good luck!

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