Shoulder & Rotator
Cuff Injuries
Anatomically we refer to the shoulder as a ‘shoulder complex’, because it is actually four separate joints that must all work simultaneously for smooth functioning. The shoulder starts where your sternum meets your collar bone, and extends to where the shoulder blade rests on the back of your ribs, this includes your acromio-clavicular (AC) and glenohumeral (GH) joints. Common conditions include sternoclavicular (SC) or AC joint separation, clavicle fracture, adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder, dislocations, labral tears, and rotator cuff injuries.
The Shoulder
Most shoulder injuries limit active pain-free motion - or in some cases the shoulder is hypermobile. The goal is always to restore full motion, and to ensure the shoulder remains stable throughout the entire movement. The rotator cuff is a muscle group that provides stability to the shoulder during movement.
What is a rotator cuff injury?
The rotator cuff decreases function when it becomes overworked, strained, or even underused and therefore won’t activate when necessary. This creates instability in the shoulder and leads to increased friction or a pinched tendon during movement (which hurts enough to keep you from doing that motion).
To restore function you must address trigger points, tears, and shortened muscles to improve painfree motion, and then relearn how to activate these muscles to keep the shoulder stable. Technically you are strengthening your shoulder, but a lot of common ‘strength exercises’ aren’t enough to keep the shoulder bulletproof.
In most cases physical therapy treatments lead to better outcomes in less time than surgery but some severe rotator cuff injuries may require surgery to return to sport. Even if you get surgery, you’ll still need PT afterwards to restore full shoulder function - so it’s always best to avoid invasive options when you can (which is most of the time).
What to expect during a session for your rotator cuff injury?
Your treatment plan will consist of an array of techniques that are all designed to improve your mobility, relieve strain & pain, and restore stability. We enforce teaching you simple activities to ‘fix yourself’ when you’re not with us to improve & maintain these changes long term.
We will reassess your movement multiple times per session to ensure you’re not wasting time, also so that you realize how quick and simple it can be to improve your shoulder. This way you’re more likely to do your home exercises and get better more quickly!
