Osteopathy Treats Rotator Cuff Syndrome

Osteopathy Treats Rotator Cuff Syndrome – The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons (supraspinatus, infraspinatus teres minor and subscapularis) that surround the shoulder joint, keeping the head of your upper arm bone firmly within the shallow socket of the shoulder and controlling rotational movement at this joint. The rotator cuff may become damaged from a fall on the shoulder, chronic overuse (like throwing a ball, inappropriate exercises), or gradual degeneration of the muscle and tendon that can occur with aging. During the throwing motion, the rotator cuff muscles undergo a rapid lengthening under tension controlling deceleration of the arm. Inappropriate functional use of the shoulder joint such as swinging and dropping kettle bells puts considerable stress on the tendons of the rotator cuffs muscles making them susceptible to overuse shoulder injuries.

Injury results in pain and subsequent inflammation (dull ache in the shoulder), stiffness and weakness that may spread to the neck and shoulder blade region. Rotator cuff patients have difficulty reaching behind their backs and may have sharp pain in the shoulder if they try to rotate their arm. They find themselves limited in motions that used to be easy for them, such as reaching something in the back seat of a car, doing up a bra strap, playing golf or doing their hair in the morning. Pain often worsens when you try to sleep on the involved side.To get your shoulder problem properly evaluated, visit your local osteopath. In most cases, the case history and physical examination is all that is necessary to make a diagnosis. In some cases severe pain may suggest a possible rotator cuff tear, calcific tendinitis or arthritic changes; which may result in a referral for x-ray or MRI scan.

Osteopathic treatment focuses on correction of any musculoskeletal or postural abnormalities that predisposed to the condition and promoting healing through use of a wide variety of osteopathic techniques which may involve massage, myofascial release and joint manipulation. Osteopathic management involves treatment, postural advice, rehabilitative exercise combined with avoidance of causative factors. Severe rotator cuff injuries, involving complete tears of the muscle or tendon, may require surgical repair.


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