Shoulder Impingement Exercises That That Helped To Fix My Shoulder
Shoulder Impingement Exercises That That Helped To Fix My Shoulder
Shoulder impingement exercises are probably the last thing on your mind when you have a shoulder impingement. Any type ofmovement is already painful so why would you subject yourself to further pain.
A shoulder impingement is a very painful condition. I know because I managed to tear my rotator cuff at the end of last year and ended up with a shoulder impingement as a result of it. My supraspinatus tendon had become swollen and was getting impinged or pinched each time that I tried lifting my left arm.
The pain was unbearable. At one point I was maxed out on pain killers and carrying a TENS machine around wired up to my shoulder just so that I could function.
Just in case you do not know what a shoulder impingement is. The supraspinatus is one of the rotator cuff muscles. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that surround the shoulder helping to stabilise it. together they hold the head of the humerus in place in the socket of the shoulder joint and all travel from the shoulder blade to the upper arm.
They are relatively small muscles but very important to having a strong, supple shoulder. Unfortunately they are also prone to injury especially for anyone who uses their shoulders a lot in sport or at work. Painters and decorators who are working above head height are prone to rotator cuff problems as is anyone who throws a ball in sport.
The last group that are vulnerable are the over forties. That is where I fit in!
A rotator cuff injury is a vicious circle. Once the tendon gets inflamed it can get pinched within a channel of bone that it runs through. Because it gets pinched it gets more inflamed, gets pinched more, gets more inflamed….see where I am going?
Untreated the end result is that you could eventually snap the tendon completely leaving you with a very bad shoulder injury.
Anyway, after several months of pain, I ended up on a short list for surgery, but having already suffered several months of discomfort, I was not willing to wait any longer so started researching shoulder impingement treatment on the internet.
I discovered that exercise is the key to recovery. Not lifting weights but simple exercises aimed at rehabilitat
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ing the rotator cuff.
It is important to start off with proper rest. That means completely avoiding any type ofmovement that causes you pain. The pain is an indicator that you are damaging the muscle more. This meant some fairly radical changes to my daily routine including giving up driving for a few weeks.
Treat the inflammation. I maxed out on anti inflammatory drugs and used ice packs every day to bring down the inflammation in the tendon.
As things started to improve I started some Pilates based exercises to gently stretch the muscles and stabilise the joint, gradually moving on to strengthening exercises. By starting slowly and building up gradually over a few weeks I was able to avoid any further damage to my muscles.
My shoulder returned to normal, pain free and fully mobile without resorting to the surgery!
What do I put this down to?
I believe that the over forties are susceptible to this injury because we change shape as we age. We change our posture, we carry ourselves differently, sit badly and change the way in which we use some of our joints. We can get a bit lazy even. Our movements are not as fluid as when we were younger. All this has an impact on the body and leads to problems.
Doing the right sort of exercise gets things working again, sorts out our posture and gets rid of some of the problems that have crept in over time.
This is no revelation. We all know that we need to exercise to stay young. Sometimes it takes something like a shoulder injury to remind us how important it is.
By: Nick Bryant
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If you would like to know more about the shoulder impingement exercises that stopped me needing surgery check out my blog at
myrotatorcuffcure.blogspot.com
My name is Nick Bryant and I am an older dad to two young children aged seven and five. I am keen on staying fit and active so that I can enjoy an active life with my children as they grow. Having suffered a shoulder injury that put me out of action for several painful months, I ws keen to share my experience and let others know how I managed a full recovery without surgery despite being told that it was necessary.
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