Shoulder pain is inconvenient and sometimes debilitating. The labrum is a type of cartilage in your shoulder. Excessive and repetitive exercise, or accidents and injury, damages this cartilage. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, this injury results in pain, usually with overhead activities, a popping or grinding sensation, occasional night pain and a sense of shoulder instability. Exercise is useful as both conservative and rehabilitative treatment for injuries to your labrum.
Anatomy
Your shoulder is a ball and socket joint, with the ball of your forearm bone fitting into the socket of your shoulder blade. In this case, the ball is much larger than the socket, known as the glenoid. Your glenoid is surrounded by the labrum, which has a high rim that deepens the glenoid by up to 50 percent so that the ball of your forearm has a more secure fit into the socket.
Exercise as a Cause for Pain
Overuse and repetitive exercise can injure your labrum. You may feel pain from a tear in your labrum when you perform exercise including overhead activities, like performing an overhand tennis swing or basketball. Repetitive exercises, like lifting weights or throwing balls, can also cause a glenoid labrum tear, or injury to the socket lining of your shoulder blade.
Exercise as Conservative Treatment
Your doctor may advise resting your shoulder while she confirms the diagnosis and decides on the best treatment for your shoulder. She may suggest exercises to strengthen your rotator cuff muscles as a conservative treatment. One such exercise requires you lie face down on a bed and dangle your affected arm off the side of the bed at shoulder level, bent at the elbow. Keeping your elbow bent, slowly raise your hand until it is shoulder high then slowly return your hand to the downward position. Repeat until your arm is tired or you feel discomfort in your shoulder.
Another exercise to strengthen your rotator cuff muscles to reduce pain caused by labrum injury requires you lie on your unaffected side with a rolled up towel under your armpit for support. Stretch your unaffected arm above your head and keep your affected arm resting against your chest. Bend your affected arm at the elbow and rest your hand on the bed. Slowly raise the hand on your affected side while keeping your elbow next to your chest, so that you are performing a maneuver similar to hitting a backstroke in tennis. Repeat until your arm is tired or you feel discomfort in your labrum.
Rehabilitative Exercise
If you have suffered a severe injury to your labrum, you may need surgery. Your doctor may require you wear a sling for three to four weeks along with passive range of motion exercises, where someone gently move your fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulder. After you no longer need the sling, you will need to perform motion and flexibility exercises. Bicep training is essential towards the end of your recovery.
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