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Solutions for Your Rotator Cuff Pain

Whether your rotator cuff injury is from a sports injury, as a result of a repetitive movement or wear and tear injury at work or from an accident, it is vital for you to know how to heal a rotator cuff injury. You can start immediately at home with some solutions, but if the pain persists, there are many nonsurgical solutions for your injury.

Since rotator cuff injuries can be painful, it is vital for you to know how to heal a rotator cuff injury. There are many home remedies, but it may be time for you to seek advice from a pain doctor.

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury: What could be the Issue?

When you feel pain in your shoulder, this could be as a result of several problems. It is helpful for you to know a few facts about your shoulder to understand what could be wrong.  Your shoulder joint allows movement in many different directions, from rotations to lifts. Your rotator cuff originates as a group of four muscles that end in tendons. These tendons form a cuff over the top part of your upper arm bone and join your arm bone to your shoulder. Usually, you feel pain when there is a problem with the muscle or tendons that comprise your rotator cuff. Your pain is a result of damage or a tear in the soft tissues of the muscles and tendons.

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury: Different Pain Indicators

With rotator cuff muscle damage often, you will feel pain in the front part of your shoulder, and this pain can travel down the arm. You will feel pain if you try rotating your arm. Your pain also might be worse when you perform any overhead activity. Also, your pain may be as a result of sleeping in the wrong position. Sometimes weakness will accompany the pain that you feel.  Often these symptoms are a result of muscle strain. However, your pain can also be the result of an impingement when your muscle enlarges due to inflammation thereby reducing the space between the arm and shoulder bones. But with a tear, you might feel a sharp pain, or a tearing sensation and the weakness will be evident right away. A tear can grow causing you increased pain and weakness.

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury: Home Remedies

If your pain is moderate, you can rely on home remedies to start the healing process. In fact, by taking care of your injury, you reduce the likelihood that further damage will occur. You can try these interventions. The first 4 are commonly known as RICE.

  • REST: Stop doing the activity that is causing you pain.
  • ICE: Put an ice pack on your shoulder to reduce any swelling.
  • COMPRESSION: Put your arm in a sling or brace to support the joint.
  • ELEVATION: Keep your shoulder elevated.
  • Over the Counter Medications: Use pain and anti-inflammatory medication to provide you with pain reduction and to counter the swelling.
  • Medicated Rubs: These creams or ointments promote blood flow in your shoulder area and will start your body’s healing process.
  • Stretches: Several stretches can alleviate your pain, by exercising the right muscles to increase your blood flow in the injured area as well as to improve your muscular strength. They are known as the doorway stretch, side lying rotational stretch, pulls – high to low, upside down fly and lawnmower start.

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury: See a Pain Doctor If . . .

Often home remedies will ease your pain, but there is a time to seek medical help from a pain doctor.

  • If your pain increases
  • If the weakness in your arm increases
  • If you cannot sleep night after night
  • If you experience a fever along with your pain
  • If your pain is due to an accident or sharp blow and the pain is increasing

How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury: Medical Solutions

At the pain treatment clinic, the first step to reducing your pain in an accurate diagnosis by a well-qualified pain physician. You can expect that your pain doctor will examine your shoulder, review your medical history, including the medications you are currently taking and order some imaging techniques such as CT scan, X-ray or MRI. Once the cause of your problems have been identified your pain doctor will discuss your options to help you avoid surgery in the future. Often several different but integrated solutions will be suggested to ease your pain and promote your healing. Some of the techniques you for your healing follow.

  • Massage: A targeted medical massage will ease the muscle strain while increasing blood flow. Both of these conditions kickstart your natural healing process while reducing swelling.
  • Physical Therapy: Your knowledgeable pain doctor in New York or pain doctor in New Jersey will work with your physical therapist so that the set of exercises will be geared for your specific problem. Your therapist will teach you these exercises so you can continue the therapy at home to speed up your recovery. Also, your therapist is trained in helping you design ways to avoid any further problems with your rotator cuff whether the solution rests with wearing a brace, completing the required repeated activity differently or ways to take breaks to ease the tension on the area.
  • Acupuncture: Many patients find relief from this ancient practice. The thin needles are placed to block the pain signals to your brain. This allows you to complete the exercises to promote your healing.
  • Prescription Medications: Your pain physician is able to prescribe pain and anti-inflammatory medications. Usually, the process is a short term solution.
  • Injections: Your pain doctor is able to use either pain or anti-inflammatory medications to target the painful area.
  • Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP): Your doctor injects your own blood platelets and growth factors into the injured area. These natural components accelerate the body’s own repair process.

If your condition continues for longer than 4 to 6 weeks, despite all of your efforts to reduce the pain in your shoulder using non-intrusive methods, you may need to resort to surgery. Your pain doctor will help you make this treatment decision based on your condition.

Surgery: If you have a complete tear of the muscle you may need surgery to solve this problem. Your orthopedic surgeon has been well trained to advise you of your options, once a careful diagnosis has been made. As a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, he or she will discuss the latest techniques, so you can select the option to suit your needs and lifestyle. There is a likelihood that your tear can be solved with arthroscopic surgery. However more intensive surgery is also available.

Key Concepts

Do You Know How to Heal a Rotator Cuff Injury? ultima modifica: 2019-01-17T02:44:05-05:00 da JJ Madrigal