The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons in your shoulder that connect your humerus and shoulder blade and keep the ball of your humerus in place in your shoulder joint. Injuries to your rotator cuff occur when any of its constituent parts are damaged. In most cases, you can heal these injuries with the help of rehabilitative exercises.
Rotator Cuff Injury
Potential causes of rotator cuff injuries include lifting motions, falls and repetitive arm movements, according to the Mayo Clinic. You may be particularly at risk if you perform activities that cause you to raise your arm above your head. Examples of these activities include raising items overhead and pitching or throwing a baseball. Pain from a rotator cuff injury most commonly occurs at the front or outside of your shoulder, the American Academy of Family Physicians, or AAFP, reports. If you have this injury, pain will typically worsen when you perform overhead motions.
First Steps
Before beginning rotator cuff rehabilitation, you should do a few things to help the healing process, the Mayo Clinic explains. First, rest your injured shoulder for roughly four to seven days. Use an ice pack in short sessions for two or three days, then switch to a heat source to relax your muscles. If needed, you can also take nonprescription painkillers. Ask your doctor for additional treatment advice and guidelines.
Range of Motion
You should begin physical rehabilitation of a rotator cuff injury with range-of-motion exercises designed to keep your shoulder joint mobile and avoid a serious potential complication of shoulder injury called frozen shoulder, according to the AAFP. A typical range-of-motion exercise involves dangling your arm while bent at the waist and moving it in circles. To perform this sort of exercise properly, begin with small circular motions and slowly expand your range until you are making larger circles. Try to do range-of-motion exercises for brief periods five to 10 times each day. Make sure to stop a session if you feel any pain.
Initial Strengthening
Once range of motion is restored, you can move on to resistance exercises that strengthen your rotator cuff, the AAFP explains. To perform these exercises, use either light dumbbells or rubber tubing-based resistance bands. An example of resistance-band exercising involves looping a band around a door knob, then using the band's handle to pull the tubing across your stomach. To perform this exercise properly, make sure to stand close to the door knob and bend your elbow at a 90-degree angle. Repeat this type of strengthening exercise every day. Begin with a single set of 10 motions, then increase your total as your shoulder pain subsides.
Last Steps and Prevention
When your pain level starts to fade, add resistance exercises designed to strengthen your entire upper arm, the AAFP notes. You can achieve this strengthening with either free weights or exercises that involve weight machines. You can also decrease your risks for reinjuring your rotator cuff by performing shoulder stretches and exercises that strengthen both your shoulders in a balanced manner, the Mayo Clinic reports.
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