Medical Problems

Posts Tagged ‘Rotator Cuff Exercises’

ExercisesForInjuries.com ***ATTENTION FITNESS PROFESSIONALS***, visit Exercises for Injuries in order to receive your 9 Fitness Education gift. If you are a Kinesiologist Exercise Therapist / Exercise Physiologist and work with clients with rotator cuff issues, the Exercise Rehabilitation for the Rotator Cuff webinar is a must – exercisesforinjuries.com .

Horizontal abduction rotator cuff exercises can be done with light weights between 3 to 5 pounds and a step or table. Learn these fantastic exercises from a certified personal fitness trainer in this free video on getting in shape.Expert: Tanya Batts Bio: Tanya Batts has been a certified personal fitness trainer for more than 11 years. She specializes in Pilates, yoga, combat cardio, aerobics, core conditioning and overall strength training. Filmmaker: Reel Media LLC

ExercisesForInjuries.com ATTENTION FITNESS PROFESSIONALS, visit Exercises for Injuries in order to receive your 9 Fitness Education gift. Looking for the most effective rotator cuff exercises for your client? Visit www.EffectiveRotatorCuffExercises.com

About 6 months ago, I tore my left rotator cuff, or to be more accurate I tore one of the muscles in my left rotator cuff.  Rotator cuff exercises helped me to a full recovery despite being told that I needed surgery, so here is my tale.

I woke up one morning with shoulder pain.  It hurt whenever I tried lifting my left arm above my shoulder or reaching for anything.  Over the next few days the pain got worse until I had severely restricted movement and was in pain constantly.

The pain that had started in my shoulder was now radiating down my left arm as far as my elbow and virtually any movement resulted in shooting pains through my shoulder.

I went to the doctor who referred me to a specialist.  Being based in the UK we have the NHS which means that we don’t pay for medical care.  The downside is that you wait for an appointment, so whilst I was waiting for an appointment I acupuncture to help manage the pain.  I was also taking a course of high dosage Ibuprofen and using cold compresses to try to reduce the swelling.

The specialist diagnosed a torn rotator cuff, which was confirmed by an MRI scan.  I was told that I needed surgery to release a shoulder impingement and given a date for surgery that was three months away.

Having already suffered for three months by then I chose that I would do some research and look for other methods of treatment while I was waiting.  I came across the website of an American Physiotherapist who specialised in shoulder injuries and rotator cuff exercises and chose that with nothing to lose I would check out his programme.

He claims to be able to strengthen injured shoulders and return them to a pain free state in around six weeks.  The programme of rotator cuff exercises starts with very simple simple to do exercises that gradually increase in difficulty and length over six weeks.  At no time did I experience any pain simply because the exercises stayed within my comfort zone.  As the weeks progressed I found that I was gradually increasing my range of pain free movement until six weeks later I was pain free and moving my shoulder as normal.

Ten weeks after starting, I was feeling courageous enough to risk a game of golf. I chose to start with nine holes just to be on the safe side.  I was a small out of practice but by the end of the game I was consistently hitting the ball as far as before the injury and without any problems.  Next week I am booked for a full round of all nineteen holes.  The nineteenth is just to celebrate my return to health.

So what do I out this down to.  I am in my early fifties and although I keep honestly fit I have certainly changed shape, place on a few extra pounds and am not as active as when I was younger.  My theory is that as we age we change shape, don’t stand as straight, our posture changes and we stop using certain muscles so much.  The rotator cuff exercises woke up some of those bone idle muscles  and helped change my posture enough to free up the problem.

Food for thought