A physical therapy and rehabilitation blog covering common athletic injuries. This is an offshoot of my work blog where I cover surgical and non-surgical rehabilitation. This is in no way intended as a blog or journal of the super intricate and technical aspects of therapy and rehab. For that there already is a wealth of information. It is my hope that this can be used to in some way simplify and make readable the truly necessary info that patients are looking for. Feel free to give feedback and or requests of topics. Good luck!
www.rehab101.wordpress.com
www.rehab101.wordpress.com
Rotator Cuff Injuries
Posted 08-17-2010 at 11:38 AM by big10fan
I’ve heard it called the rotary cuff, the rotator cup, and everything except what it is. There is quite a bit of confusion of what exactly the rotator cuff is and does. Sparing the detailed anatomy (if you want that, see the links below) the rotator cuff is comprised of four muscles and their tendons. These muscles are anchored on your shoulder blade and attach to the top of your upper arm bone. A common analogy used to describe the shoulder joint is a golf ball on a golf tee. It is a joint that gives a lot of motion but the sacrifice is stability. And that’s where the problems arise, especially for the athlete.
Rotator cuff injuries can be a frequent problem for overhead athletes, but they can happen to anyone. Tears are usually of the uppermost muscle of the cuff and generally are of the “wear and tear” type versus traumatic injury. A very interesting study revealed that a surprising amount of the population may have a tear and not have any pain or symptoms. I have personally worked with patients that had significant and even full tears and have rehabbed well without surgery. But, if the tear is severe enough, or if you are a very active person, surgery may be the only option. In that case, newer techniques are more and more available that are less invasive (read: less cutting!) and that generally means a quicker rehab. See the links below for more detailed stats.
Rehab can be very lengthy and intense depending on how significant the tear is and if there are other issues (labrum or bicep tendon tears for example) to consider. Non-surgical rehab will jump right into exercises in a pain-free range and will first work to decrease pain and then to restore function. Surgical rehab will start primarily with passive range of motion (the therapist moves the arm for you) and then slowly progress with very light exercises. I can’t stress enough how important it is for surgical patients to stay within their restrictions and not overdo it. A re-tear is a worst case scenario and entails another surgery with even less potential for rehab. So, mind your surgeon and therapist!
For some pics and a little extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotator_cuff and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotator_cuff_tear
For some stats and pics of surgical repair techniques: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00406
For video of surgical repairs: http://www.drgartsman.com/rotator_cu...cuff_video.asp
Rotator cuff injuries can be a frequent problem for overhead athletes, but they can happen to anyone. Tears are usually of the uppermost muscle of the cuff and generally are of the “wear and tear” type versus traumatic injury. A very interesting study revealed that a surprising amount of the population may have a tear and not have any pain or symptoms. I have personally worked with patients that had significant and even full tears and have rehabbed well without surgery. But, if the tear is severe enough, or if you are a very active person, surgery may be the only option. In that case, newer techniques are more and more available that are less invasive (read: less cutting!) and that generally means a quicker rehab. See the links below for more detailed stats.
Rehab can be very lengthy and intense depending on how significant the tear is and if there are other issues (labrum or bicep tendon tears for example) to consider. Non-surgical rehab will jump right into exercises in a pain-free range and will first work to decrease pain and then to restore function. Surgical rehab will start primarily with passive range of motion (the therapist moves the arm for you) and then slowly progress with very light exercises. I can’t stress enough how important it is for surgical patients to stay within their restrictions and not overdo it. A re-tear is a worst case scenario and entails another surgery with even less potential for rehab. So, mind your surgeon and therapist!
For some pics and a little extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotator_cuff and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotator_cuff_tear
For some stats and pics of surgical repair techniques: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00406
For video of surgical repairs: http://www.drgartsman.com/rotator_cu...cuff_video.asp
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