subject: Rotator Cuff Diagnosis: A Meadville Chiropactor Approach [print this page] The Rotator Cuff Diagnosis: A Meadville Chiropractor Overview
As the owner of the Painkiller Hands Chiropractic office in Meadville, time and time again I hear people get the "Rotator Cuff" Diagnosis for shoulder pain and they are getting a chemical treatment like drugs for a physical condition. My motto is treat physical problems with physical treatment. Many people come to me with neck and back pain and I inevitably find out about their shoulder problem. When I tell my patients I treat shoulders they are like "go for it" after I tell them I use the same techniques on shoulders that I do for their neck and back. Rotator cuff - Shoulder pains are so commonly treated in my office I should be the Meadville Rotator Cuff Expert.
First, to understand the nature of the beast you need to know the basics parts of the shoulder. Basically, there are bones and muscles. The bones involved are the scapula (wing bone) and the humerus (upper arm bone). The joint that forms between the scapula and humerus is a like a ball and socket joint. The big muscles that surround the shoulder joint that you can easily see are responsible for general and forceful movement. The small muscles on the inside close to the joint are the rotator cuff muscles and they help fine-tune the motion of the joint as the big muscles do all the work. The rotator cuff muscles guide the ball in the ball and socket joint of the shoulder. So, all the muscles of the rotator cuff originate their attachments on the scapula and on the rib cage in the front. The 5 rotator cuff muscles attach on the ball of the humerus bone. They attach on different places so they can pivot the ball in the socket in many different directions as the big muscles on top of them move the whole arm.
The reason the shoulder joint needs this pivot mechanism controlled by the rotator cuff is that it not truly a ball and socket joint. The socket in this case is very shallow to allow for the huge range of different motions of the shoulder. This is the reason the shoulder is prone to coming "out of the socket" with a blunt force injury. So the rotator cuff keeps the ball pivoting on top of and centered on the very shallow socket of the should joint. Think of the socket like a birdbath and a beach ball floating in the birdbath water would be the ball of the humerus. The ball can spin and stay in the center of the birdbath if you guide it with your hands. If the ball kept spinning with out guidance it would roll up to the side of the birdbath, rub against the edge, and eventually pop the ball from wearing it out. In the case of the case of the shoulder with out the guidance of the rotator cuff it would deviate to the edge of the socket and wear out all things involved with the shoulder joint.
Problems occur when the rotator cuff muscles fail to guide the ball and socket joint as it moves. With the improper pivoting in the ball and socket joint it will bind up and put lots of physical stress on some of the rotator cuff muscles. This wears them out and eventually tears them and if they tear in half usually you will need surgery to repair it. My goal is to prevent that by treating the rotator cuff muscles so they start to guide the moment of the shoulder correctly as possible.
One of the main reasons for the rotator cuff muscles to fail it's shoulder guidance job is that one or more rotator cuff muscles gets over used and they get knotted up and shortened from spasm. This will cause uneven pivoting in the shoulder joint cause the joint to grind, pop and snap. This will eventually wear it out prematurely. The tendons that attach the rotator cuff mussels to the humerus become very irritated and inflamed from the mechanical tension increase. The rotator cuff muscles also become painful and can even shoot pain down the arm because of referred pain generated by the knots in the muscles.
The other main reason for rotator cuff problems is poor posture. I'm talking about the kind you get from hunching over a desk all day or sitting in a sofa with your but on the edge of the seat and your head propped forward by the back rest of the sofa. Some people do both. This posture with your shoulders rounded forward and your head pushed forward limits the movement of the shoulder and over works some parts of the rotator cuff and under works other parts of the rotator cuff. This leads to the problems discussed in the previous paragraph about muscles knotting up and going into spasm.
The good news is that in my office I treat muscles spasms and knots with great effectiveness with pressure points. This lengthens the right rotator cuff muscles and balances the movement preventing binding unwanted tension that causes tears. The key to successful treatment is finding the exact part of the rotator cuff that has the imbalance and tension. My experience has allowed me to find spots in the rotator cuff muscles that are usually over looked by most health care practitioners. Even better, for the ultimate cure and prevention is that I can show you how to reverse your bad posture with exercises and stretching. On top of that I use chiropractic adjustments that also help posture and restore normal motion of the spine that relates to the shoulder movement and optimal nerve supply to the shoulder.
With the combination of all these treatments the Painkiller Hands approach has gotten great results where drugs and other therapies have failed.
