Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Torn Rotator Cuff Test


With so many types of shoulder injuries sometimes it can be hard to diagnose just what your problems might be. Sometimes doctors don't even know and give false diagnosis so here is the torn rotator cuff test that you can do to give you a much better idea if you have damaged your cuff in your shoulder.

Firstly look for these Torn Rotator Cuff Symptoms:
  • Pain when lifting arms above the head (if you can even get that far)
  • Pain right near the rotator cuff which is located around the side of the shoulder
  • Pain that radiates down the arm (not everyone gets this though)
  • Possible crunching or grinding sounds when moving the shoulder
  • A popping sounds or feeling when moving the shoulder in certain motions
Another method to test if you have a torn rotator cuff is the arm drop test. A doctor will usually do this with you but you can try it on your own as well.

  1. Lift your arm up and away from your body at 90 degrees then try to slowly lower the arm back to your side.
  2. If you have a torn cuff you will find it hard to do slowly or smoothly and you may often get a total loss of muscular control where your arm simply falls without you being able to resist.
If the pain is too much to do this please see a doctor but if you want more information about diagnosing your specific shoulder injury including more torn rotator cuff tests as well as how to relive pain and heal the injury click below to find out more

Torn Rotator Cuff Alternative Therapies


Torn rotator cuff alternative therapies like more alternative therapies are hotly contested on their effectiveness but for the sake of completeness and the fact that many people do find pain relief and healing in some of these therapies here are a few torn rotator cuff alternative therapies.
  • Massage Therapy - While massage is usually a muscular therapy and a rotator cuff tear is a injury of the tendons that connect muscle to bone some have indicated that good massage therapy increases blood flow to the region healing faster healing to the tendons as well as loosening the muscles and tendons for further exercise.
  • Acupuncture - Again this cannot help the rotator cuff itself but acupuncture has been shown to relieve swelling and inflammation in affected areas. In conjunction with other therapies this can be used to help with pain relief.
  • Bee Venom Cream or Balm - This is a newer concept in alternative therapies for torn rotator cuffs. This provides a deep heat in the effected areas relieving pain and loosening joints without using heat packs too often.
For more information on all aspects of treating shoulder pain visit Shoulder Pain No more. The guide that has helps thousands of people overcome serious shoulder injures to become pain fee and mobile once again.

Torn Rotator Cuff Home Remedies


Torn rotator cuff home remedies are a handy thing to know if you suffer from the debilitating pain of a rotator cuff injury. The alternatives are often surgery or lengthy and costly physiotherapy which are simply not options everyone can do or wants to do. Being able to reduce the pain and to bring about healing to your shoulder from your own home therefore is something that has a lot of appeal.

Firstly this is not about creating smelly goop to spread on your shoulder or mixing up herbs to drink though some alternative therapies like this have some supporters. This post is just about the little things you can do at home to remedy a painfully torn rotator cuff and promote healing.

Some helpful ways to remedy your shoulder are:

Initial Rest

If you have recently suffered this injury then you need to rest that shoulder. However you should not rest it too much either. Lack of movement in any body part leads to a degradation of strength with atrophy of the muscles as well as stiffening the tendons and other parts of the joint making it more prone to injury.

Also make sure if one shoulder has a torn rotator cuff then do not overdo it on the other shoulder. Many shoulder injuries come from overcompensating when you have a sore shoulder on the other side. Rest your whole body not just the one with the torn cuff!

Cold Packs

Initially you will have inflammation and swelling in the shoulder which needs to be dealt with. Application of a cold pack or just ice cubes in a towel can greatly reduce the pain and swelling. Limit how long you apply the cold pack to the shoulder to about fifteen to twenty minutes however as more than that can cause damage to the skin and shoulder.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Some foods are excellent at helping with reducing inflammation and swelling as well as helping joint health in general. A combination of high protein, high omega 3 fatty acids and high fiber foods are recommended so try to eat more of these foods:
  • Chili
  • Garlic
  • Rosemary
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Green Leafy Vegetables
  • Berries
And stay away from high fat foods and oils. Avoid these kinds of foods:
  • Fatty Meat
  • Sugar
  • White Bread
  • Processed Foods
  • Too much dairy food
  • Eggs
Hot Packs

Once you have treated the inflammation you will need to start the healing process. After all the rest and cold packs though your shoulder will be stiff and probably still sore. Using a heat pack for 15 to 20 minutes at a time can help dull then pain and loosen up the joint which is important for the next step.

Torn Rotator Cuff Stretches

Your shoulder will never heal properly if you do not exercise it to strengthen the muscles around it and also increase your mobility in the joint. While the temptation is to leave it to heal exercise actually creates more healing opportunities in the body as long as you do not overdo it.

For more information on how to stretch for a torn rotator cuff home remedies and more click below for a complete guide.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What Causes Shoulder Pain?

There are many causes of shoulder pain that can have you clutching your shoulder in agony when you move your arm the wrong way. Knowing what sort of ailment you have is also vital to workout how to remedy shoulder pain.

A few common causes are:

  • Rotator Cuff Tendonitis or Burstitis
    One of the most common shoulder injuries are to do with the tendons in the rotator cuff which can suffer inflammation and more.

  • Rotator Cuff Tear
    When the tendons connecting the muscle to the bone in the shoulder tear slightly or all the way through tou can suffer extreme pain that is hard to heal

  • Frozen Shoulder
    This is also known as 'adhesive capsuliitis,'. While quite common frozen shoulders can be extremely annoying and painful and require a lot of stretching and exercise to fix.

  • Calcific Tendonitis
    Sometimes calcium deposits accumulate around the tendons which cause shoulder pain can be difficult to remove or dislodge.

  • Shoulder Dislocation
    This is where the top of the arm bone separates from the scapula (shoulder bone)
While there are more causes of shoulder pain these are some of the most common that you need to know. How to cure shoulder pain depends on which injuries you have suffered so you do not apply a rotator cuff cure to a frozen shoulder and so forth.

To find out more on diagnosis of your shoulder pain and the appropriate treatments click below for detailed information:

What is a Torn Rotator Cuff?

In your shoulder and all over the body there are things called tendons. These are fibers that connect the muscle to the bone and are an essential part of your entire body's workings.

While usually very strong they can be inflamed, damaged and torn which creates shoulder pain and weakness. This can be from a variety of things including sporting injuries and heavy lifting as well as accidents where you may use your arm to stop yourself from colliding.

How to cure torn rotator cuff injuries also relies on knowing how badly damaged your tendons are so this is important to know.

The tear may not be all the way through also which makes it hard to diagnose sometimes and can often have doctors telling you how to cure shoulder pain in general rather than focusing on treatment for rotator cuff injuries.

These minor tears are still very painful and need to be carefully monitored but other problems in the same region that it can be confused with are shoulder bursitis and rotator cuff tendonitis.

When looking for a rotator cuff cure it is essential that you find out exactly what injury you actually have to you can learn how to remedy shoulder pain using the right methods.

To find out how to do this check out Shoulder Pain No More by Joe Brent who has a detailed section on self diagnosis in his downloadable e-book

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Welcome!

On and off for a year or two i had persitent shouldr problems. Not just one one shoulder either but one, then the otherm then both. It was killing me!

I had quite an active job where i needed to be able to move fast and carry things and also be presentable to clients and recently my wife gave birth to my second child when the car accident happened. It was not even a bad accident but somehow during that prang I managed to tear a rotator cuff in my right shoulder.

As I mentioned before this snowballed into over a year of pain and frustration and it nearly cost me my job and put my marriage under enormous pressure as i could not even rough house with the toddler or pick up the baby to help.

I needed a shoulder pain cure and my options were grim. Physiotherapy I could not afford or surgery i also could not afford and was not happy to do anyway. Luckily i found something online that changed all of that in an in a few weeks i was on the way to a serious recovery thanks to this guide.

I set this blog up so I could satisfy the raving fan within myself and hopefully to help others with crippling shoulder pain to better understand their options and how they can help themselves.