Torn rotator cuff injury is one of the most common injuries people visit an orthopaedic doctor. Patients of this injury are usually either 60 or are athletes (as they are more vulnerable to injuries and incidents). In rotator cuff injury, the mass of tendons and muscles firmly (holding the upper arm ball in the shoulder socket) is torn. These muscles and tendons provide flexibility to the arm in the shoulder joint. But you need to be careful, as injury may eventually result in degeneration of the shoulder joint.
Rotator Cuff Injury Causes
It is said that “Prevention is better than cure.”. So you may want to understand common causes of rotator cuff injuries, like your profession or recreational activities. That way, you may be able to prevent them.
- Overhead activities: Doing some simple tasks like raising your hand to change the lightbulb may put a strain on your shoulder joint. You don’t have to be a Yankees’ pitcher to experience rotator cuff injuries due to throwing a ball. A rotator cuff is a bunch of tendons and muscles that attach to the bones of your shoulder joint, which may get strained by these activities.
A few of the common overhead activities that may lead to shoulder pain and injury are as follows:
- Hammering a nail into the wall
- Serving a tennis ball
- Playing games like volleyball or basketball
- Lifting or placing an object on a high shelf
- Doing construction work
- Painting a wall or ceiling
- Repetitive overhead arm motions
The overuse of your rotator cuff muscles can lead to tears and strains. In addition, it may cause dull aches or even result in intense shoulder pain over time.
- Age and degeneration: Several rotator cuff injuries are caused due to ageing. Hence, it is said that age plays a major risk factor. You are 5 times more susceptible to injury if you are over 60 years old than in your younger years.
Other factors that may cause you to suffer from a rotator cuff tear are smoking, having high cholesterol, arthritis, or diabetes. If you have persistent pain in your shoulder, you may be inflicted with a rotator cuff injury due to the cause mentioned above.
How to prevent rotator cuff injury?
You may have heard a saying: Prevention is always better than cure.
So here are a few ways you can prevent getting a rotator cuff tear:
- Exercise the Shoulders Regularly: Regular and gentle arm exercises help prevent a rotator cuff tear. Exercises can help strengthen the muscles and tissues that make up rotator cuff. Light exercise that hardly takes a few minutes can be done throughout the day. Raise your arms above your head and cup your hands together. Then, keep your hands high and rotate your hands and wrists loosely to help boost the circulation. Also, you can reach your arm over your head to the other side and hold for a few seconds.
The advantages of these exercises are that they can be done anywhere, even while sitting at your desk. In addition, these exercises can help you stretch and strengthen your shoulder muscles and prevent other arm-related issues, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Warm-Up Before Exercise:
Another step that helps is to warm up before exercising. If you are an athlete or play tennis, golf, or another sport that can strain your shoulders, you must always warm-up before you play. Warm-ups like stretching out the shoulder muscles should be done before starting any exercise, sports or physical activities. It will help you to prevent a rotator cuff injury. - Mind Your Posture:
You should be aware of your body posture. Sitting erect and standing erect is important to keep the shoulder blades straight. If you tend to lean forward or push your head forward, then hunch forward to change the position of your shoulder blades. Bad body posture can make you more prone to rotator cuff tears and lead to shoulder injuries.
Do you want to steer clear of the rotator cuff injuries? Then you may follow the approaches mentioned above. If you want more information on how you can avoid rotator cuff injury, get in touch with the experts at Germanten Hospital via www.germantenhospitals.com
WHY CHOOSE US?
Germanten Hospital has been one of India’s leading facilities for various medical treatments. Under insightful leadership, we have acquired excellence when it comes to treatments in neurology, plastic or cosmetic surgery, orthopaedics and reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Mir Jawad Zar Khan has led our hospital to the forefront of the medical industry. He has experience of 20 years in orthopaedics. His alma mater is Osmania University, where Dr. Khan achieved a gold medal for his excellence in education. He then completed advanced training in the USA and Germany.
Dr. Mir Jawad Zar Khan was awarded the “Best Doctor” by Shri Roshaiah Garu, the Former Gov. of Tamil Nadu and former CM of Andhra Pradesh. He was also felicitated with the Vaida Ratna Award in 2019 by Shri Etala Rajendra, the honourable health minister of Telangana. In addition to that, Germanten Hospital also received an award of “Best Orthopaedic Hospital In South India” from the Economic Times Group in 2021.
We have gained access to state-of-the-art medical technology and the latest advanced equipment, which has proven to be quite beneficial for our patients.