One of the worst and more painful injuries is damage to the shoulder rotator cuff. In such a situation, it becomes practically impossible to exercise the upper body. The question is how to treat shoulder rotators once they are injured. Before that, however, it is worth learning more about them and learning about exercises that will prevent injuries.

In the old adage "prevention is better than cure", there is a lot of truth. It is much easier to prepare the body for exercise, strengthen it and protect it against an injury than to treat it later. Appropriate prevention is also able to speed up recovery after an injury.

So, get to know the exercises that are worth doing after a shoulder injury and to prevent it. Also, find out what tests can be performed to gain awareness of the condition of our rotator cuff.

Contents:

  1. Shoulder rotators - rotating structures of the shoulder joint
  2. Causes of rotator cuff injuries in people practicing sports
  3. What to do in case of rotator cuff injury - treatment and rehabilitation
  4. How to exercise shoulder rotators?

Shoulder rotators - rotating structures of the shoulder joint

The shoulder joint is spherical. At the same time, it is the joint with the greatest range of motion in the human body. This creates many opportunities, but at the same time greatly exposes him to an injury. The brachial joint connects the head of the humerus with the shallow acetabulum of the scapula. The ligaments themselves are not able to maintain this connection, therefore the shoulder girdle has additional stabilization in the form of two muscle groups, transverse and longitudinal.

The acetabulum is ovoid in shape and the tapered end points upwards. It is covered with hyaline cartilage, which allows the head of the humerus, which is almost half of the sphere with a radius of 2.5 centimeters, to easily move inside it. Around the rim of the acetabulum, there is a fibrous ring, also known as the labrum. It is worth noting that the non-permanent elements of the shoulder joint include the labrum, the tendon of the long head of the biceps and ligaments. The structure of this joint is quite complicated, and the joint capsule itself is strengthened by numerous muscles of the upper limb attached to it.

Ligaments

The ligaments they hold are worth mentioningshoulder joint in the appropriate plane. These are the ligaments:

  • ravenous-humerus - which stretches between the coracoid process and the lesser tubercle of the humerus;
  • shoulder and shoulder - which strengthens the deep layers of the bag on the front and top. It runs from the edge of the labrum to the neck of the anatomical humerus. Its function is, among other things, to inhibit external rotation movements;
  • ravenous-shoulder - which connects the scapulae processes. Its function is to turn on the rotation of the blade during the lift movement by bending the arm above 60 degrees.

The shoulder joint has as many as 3 degrees of mobility, which makes it multi-axial. He can bend and straighten, which means that he has the ability to pendulum movements. In addition, it has the ability to adduction and abduction, and at the very end it also has the option of internal and external rotation. The range of motion in this pond is very large and allows us to perform many activities that are inaccessible to other creatures.

Muscle

Now I would like to briefly discuss the functions of the individual muscles of the shoulder joint. This will allow you to better understand how you can strengthen them and why you should do it.

  • The subscapular muscle is responsible for the movement of internal rotation. It is located between the scapula and the posterior wall of the ribs of the dorsal surface. Its trailers and location mean that any shortening can be resolved with external rotation therapy.
  • The round muscle, which is the cylindrical muscle, is located on the surface of the scapula. It is an antagonist of the subscapular muscle and thus participates in internal rotation. All his dysfunctions can be easily corrected by stretching the latissimus dorsi muscle.
  • The subcapsular muscle, as the name suggests, is located under the crest of the scapula. It is responsible for the rotation of the limb internally and is an antagonist for the smaller round, additionally, it also contributes to the strengthening of the articular capsule.
  • The supraspinatus muscle, which lies at the bottom of the scapula crest, is mainly responsible for initiating shoulder abduction. It is this muscle that is the most common problem during shoulder pain. Its characteristic course and the distribution of stress forces occurring during its movement do not favor its correct operation in unnatural planes. As a result, he will suffer from all kinds of posture defects, causing problems with the shoulder joint.

Causes of rotator cuff injuries in people practicing sports

There are two reasonsshoulder rotator cuff injuries in training people. The first is a sudden injury resulting from some sudden movement. The second is chronic damage resulting from degenerative changes.
Unfortunately, many people are not aware of how they should take care of their bodies. As a result, they neglect them for years or put them in difficult conditions. This type of practice, which is most often the result of the specificity of a given sport, can lead to serious and long-lasting injuries.

A rotator cuff injury can occur as a result of repetitive activities with the upper arm raised. Due to the long-term repetition of activities that are unfavorable to the he alth of the rotators, degeneration of the tendons and muscles of the shoulder girdle may occur.

The most vulnerable to this type of injuries are athletes, whose disciplines force you to frequently hold your hands up. These are, among others, volleyball players, basketball players, swimmers and also martial arts players. Rotator cuff injuries often occur as a result of improper strength training.

Symptoms that suggest damage to the rotator cuff include pain and limited mobility of the joint. This goes hand in hand with the weakening of the muscle strength in the shoulder area. You can only feel pain with certain movements, such as lifting your arm up. Unfortunately, it may also happen that problems with the rotators will interfere with sleep. Pain may come on suddenly and or constantly increase, depending on the degree of damage to the structures.

What to do in case of rotator cuff injury - treatment and rehabilitation

First of all, you need to recognize the type of injury and its cause. A good medical history and imaging tests will help in this. In order to identify the exact location of the injury, tests such as ultrasound, X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging are used.

Damages are divided into two groups. In the case of athletes, these are most often mechanical injuries caused by practicing a given discipline. Older people, however, suffer from degenerative injuries much more often.

We will focus on rehabilitation and treatment of mechanical injuries. You can try to diagnose yourself quickly, but I recommend that you go to a physiotherapist or orthopedist. Describe the accompanying symptoms and the reasons for their occurrence.

Thanks to this, specialists will be able to choose the appropriate method of action for us, aimed at reducing the symptoms of an injury and healing it.

Rehabilitation usually takes place in two ways. First of all, structures that have been damaged must, figuratively speaking, arrivemyself. In the second - they should be strengthened. The benefits of strengthening shoulder rotators are enormous and can be listed as:

  • more stable and stronger joint structure that will be more resistant to future injuries
  • strengthening the stabilization and muscle strength of the joint during sports, which translates into injury prevention
  • counteracting the appearance of degenerations
  • maintaining the full length of muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Therefore, first of all, all injuries should be healed, and then the damaged area should be rehabilitated, strengthening it so that no further injuries occur in the future.

How to exercise shoulder rotators?

At the start, it should be mentioned that training muscles without relaxing them and restoring them to full fitness will be a mistake. For this reason, it is worthwhile to regain full mobility of the joint at the beginning, and only then to strengthen it. It is worth combining the rotator cuff training with the training of the pectoral or deltoid muscles, because it will be a perfect complement to it.

Exercises worth doing to strengthen the rotators:

  • Cuban press - is an advanced exercise intended only for people who have not had any previous rotator cuff injuries. It will work well for players training strength buoys. It's good if a specialist showed us the technique of this particular exercise;
  • Rotation of the arm inwards and outwards with a power band rubber or light load - both versions of the exercise strengthen the structures that are exposed to injuries. For this reason, it is worth including both of them in your workouts;
  • The rotation of the arm outward while lying down - this is another exercise that you should include in your training. It has a slightly different effect on the muscles than the standing version;

It is very important that the exercises are scheduled by a trainer or a physiotherapist. It is also worth doing at least once under his supervision. If surgery for the rotator cuff was needed, it will take longer to recover.

Rehabilitation, however, will start in the first week after the procedure. The first 4 to 6 weeks are aimed at protecting the operated area. The course of rehabilitation varies greatly from patient to patient.

There is also something like conservative rehabilitation, which is introduced when the doctor decides not to perform surgery. This process usually takes about 6 months.

A very important role in the proper functioning of shoulder rotatorsplays a spatula. Its proper mobilization is therefore also a key activity in the prevention of injuries. To ensure its stabilization and mobility, you should focus on training and stretching the trapezius, parallelogram and dentate anterior muscles.

In the treatment of injuries of the shoulder joint, surgery is now being abandoned. Basic movements that are natural to the body are much more commonly used. Professionally practicing sports, however, may need stronger incentives to regain full fitness. For this reason, their rehabilitation should be carried out individually under the supervision of a specialist.

About the authorTomasz Piotrowski He is a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist. He gained his knowledge from the best experts in the fitness industry in Poland. He has several years of experience working as a dietitian in a private facility in Krakow and experience in working as a personal trainer. He also writes expert articles on he alth, training and supplementation, and works in the supplement industry. He is passionate about fist fencing.

Category:

Anatomy