Shoulder Pain And Injury: Discover How And Why To Avoid Surgery
Statistically around 25% to 30% of the population suffers
, at one stage or another, from shoulder pain due to rotator cuff injuries such as tendonitis, bursitis and tears. The fact is that the shoulder articulation is by far the more complex and therefore fragile articulation in the human body.
Our shoulders have a range of motion unequaled by any other articulation in the body, and this on the one hand makes our daily life activities much easier and more plentiful. But on the other hand, if we don't treat our shoulders with respect and care, they can make our daily life a misery.
The muscles and joints of the shoulder allow it to move through a remarkable range of motion, making it the most mobile joint in the human body. The shoulder can abduct, adduct (shoulder fly), rotate, be raised in front and behind the torso and move through a full 360 in the sagittal plane.
As I said earlier, this tremendous range of motion also makes the shoulder extremely unstable, far more prone to dislocation and injury than other joints.
The rotator cuff is an anatomical word given to the group of muscles and their tendons that function to stabilize the shoulder. It is composed of the tendons and muscles that hold the head of the humerus (ball) in the glenoid fossa (socket).Two filmy sac-like structures called bursa permit smooth gliding between bone, muscle, and tendon. They cushion and protect the rotator cuff from the bony arch of the acromion.
So to resume: The shoulder being such a fragile articulation it is no surprise that so many people end up with shoulder pain or injury during their life. It happened to me a few years ago and this is something that I won't forget, but also an experience from which I have learned a lot.
What I got at that time is called a frozen shoulder after too much gym exercises and training at my favorite sport, water ski, over a certain period of time; just a few weeks in fact. This is what is called over-use and it is quite common in the sport circle.
Just a short while after a routine training on the water one evening, as my muscle were cooling down, the range of motion of my left shoulder was diminishing to the point that when it was time to drive home I could hardly switch gears with my left hand.
What happened in the next few months was very challenging and at the same time very interesting.
The 3 major things that I have learned from that experience are:
1.When and if any kind of shoulder injury occurs we have to arm ourselves with ton of patience and perseverance. Recovery time may range from 4 weeks to several months even years depending upon several factors like individual state of health, age and seriousness of the injury. In my case it took 7 months before I could hit the water again with an almost painless shoulder.
2.In this kind of circumstance one thing that is absolutely paramount is the guidance of a knowledgeable and dedicated Physical Therapist. He is the one who is going to guide you step by step during those different stages of recovery. I was fortunate enough to meet a real specialist in all kind of shoulder injuries. Let me introduce him to you in my blog (please scroll down to the bottom of the article and click on the embedded link). He has written a few publications (available online) about rotator cuff pain and injury and frozen shoulder, where he gives us simple exercises to do, specially designed towards a safe and durable recovery. After complete recovery those exercises will be used to strengthen our shoulders and therefore keeping us safe from further future injuries.
3.Shoulder surgery should only be contemplated at the very last resort. The main problem with surgery being, that we cannot be assured that we will ever recover the original full motion of our shoulder, even after several months (years) of recovery. It is almost like a gamble. After my injury I visited 3 orthopedists to get different opinions, and all 3 of them told me that the only solution to my injury was surgery. On the other hand 2 physical therapists told me, first stay away from it. They told me surgery should only be considered as the absolute last resort, and when everything else has failed. I am immensely glad that I listened to them and followed their wise advice; my left shoulder has now recovered a 100% painless range of motion.
Have you ever felt a kind of stiffness or sharp pain in your shoulder? If yes, then you could be suffering from a rotator cuff injury. Due to the nearly limitless mobility of our shoulder joints, which authorizes for great adaptability and function, we often place excessive demand on them in our everyday life.
Without proper exercises to strengthen your rotator cuffs, if you place excessive stress on them, it is likely that one day you will suffer a shoulder injury of some kind. Overhead athletes such as swimmers, pitchers, volleyball players and quarterbacks are especially at great risk of injury if practicing without proper preparation.
by: Travis Parker
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