Do you feel a pain in your shoulder when you put on your shirt or reach out for a higher shelf? If yes, then you might be suffering from a rotator cuff injury. Rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint, providing stability and enabling a wide range of shoulder movements. When you are injured it causes a strong pain in your shoulder which often worsens when you try to sleep on the side of pain.
We’ve found that rotator cuff injuries can occur to you if you repeatedly perform overhead motion in your jobs or sports. The risk of having rotator cuff injury also increases with your age and the most common symptoms of you having this pain includes:
- Dull ache in the shoulder
- Disturbed sleep
- Difficulty reaching behind your back
And, if you or someone you know is really suffering from rotator cuff injury and it’s left untreated, you should know that getting rid of it is really important otherwise it will result in permanent stiffness or weakness, which will then lead to progressive degeneration of the shoulder joint. So, what are you waiting for? Read this blog and understand the 3 common ways through which you will get a permanent relief from the rotator cuff injury.
Understanding rotator cuff injury Pain and its Impact on daily life
The pain which is related to rotator cuff injury is often dull and is found deep within the shoulder. This pain usually gets worse at night, disturbing your sleep and making it challenging for you to perform your everyday tasks like combing hair or changing your clothes. But you should also know that some rotator cuff injuries don’t cause pain at all and you might experience immediate weakness in your arm.
Rotator cuff injuries have a large impact on our daily routine tasks like getting dressed, lifting groceries and combing hair, how? Well, with time these simple tasks become painful and unbearable. The three negative impacts that you face due to rotator cuff may include:
- Limited mobility
- Weakness
- Sleep Disturbance
3 Ways to get rid of rotator cuff injury Pain
Here we have mention 3 major solutions for the rotator cuff injury pain that you suffer from:
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Go for Physical Therapy
Physical therapy usually combines different exercises, stretches and movements together to enhance your strength, flexibility and mobility. The goal of doing this therapy is to enable safer and more confident body movement. Physical therapies play a really important role in the management of rotator cuff injury by restoring your range of motion, strengthening your shoulder muscles, posture improvement and pain reduction.
For restoring your range of motion you should start your physical therapies by focusing on gentle exercises that will improve your flexibility within the joint and will give you the ability to perform daily activities without any discomfort. You can strengthen your shoulders by doing strengthening exercises that are essential to rebuild those weakened muscles around your shoulder and when you target specific muscle groups, physical therapy will improve your overall shoulder stability.
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Get diagnosis and take medications
To cure your rotator cuff injury it is important for you to get it diagnosed first which you can do in following ways:
- Physical examination: During the time of physical examination, the healthcare provider will assess different parts of your affected shoulder. They will usually test your muscle strength and after that will evaluate your arm movement. Some imaging tasks consists of:
- X-rays : By getting your X-Ray done you will be able to see bone spurs or other potential causes of pain.
- Ultrasound: This test will use sound waves to create images of soft tissues like muscles and tendons within your shoulder during movement.
Once you are done with tests it is now the time to take medications and some of the common medications which people consume to get relieved from rotator cuff injuries are anti-inflammatory drugs and over the counter medications like ibuprofen.
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Do Lifestyle Modifications
Changing your lifestyle is really important to get a cure from rotator cuff injury pain. First lifestyle modification that you should make is to take rest because taking rest is important for healing and when you experience pain due to rotator cuff injury it is essential for you to avoid activities that will increase the discomfort. Not only this but resting your affected shoulder will allow you to recover and reduce strain on the damaged muscles.
Second most important thing that you should do is make dietary changes for recovery which means that you should opt for a nutrition rich diet that will provide your body the right nutrition it needs and will accelerate the healing process. Avoid consuming oily and processed foods, increase vegetable intake, eat lean proteins like tofu to see changes more fastly.
Conclusion
Today we’ve learned about three effective methods which you should use to eliminate the pain which is connected to the rotator cuff injury. You should apply these strategies consistently to see improvement in your recovery process. And, always remember that we understand how difficult and challenging it is to deal with an injury but you’re not alone , stay positive and know that every step that you will take will bring you closer to recovery.
Also Read: How do I make neck pain go away forever