Kady Dash - Heal Your Shoulder: Rotator Cuff Rehabilitation

Heal Your Shoulder

Rotator Cuff
Rehabilitation

Kady Dash

Contents

Notice of Rights

Copyright 2020 by Kady Dash. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no repre sentations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional when appropriate. Nei ther the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal, or other damages.

Introduction

I ve made many mistakes after I injured my shoulder because I did not realize how serious the problem was and how long it would take me to recover. This book captures my experience and what I should have done differently, what helped me relieve the pain and ultimately become pain-free.

One of the critical parts of my recovery was physical therapy. I spent many weeks doing supervised physical therapy exercises. This book includes a collection of exercises and instructions that I found to be most effective in my rehabilitation.

The injury

I have worked on the computer every day for over 30 years, having no repetitive motion injuries. I never had shoulder pain before, so when the pain began during an intense work period, I did not stop and kept working to meet a deadline. I was doing a lot of copy and paste motions. Copy and paste motion required me to move my hand left and right with a computer mouse. I was doing this work for over eight hours a day for more than a week.

One night, as I finally met my deadline and went to bed, I could not sleep from the acute pain in my shoulder and neck. The next day, I could not turn my head left or right while driving my car to check for traffic. I was a complete wreck for about three days. In three or four days, using an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication, I graduated from being in agony to having intense pain, which got more acute each time I worked on a computer for more than a few minutes.

I took several vacation days so I could stop using my arm for typing altogether. I got a different mousing device to change the angle of my hand. Rest and a different mousing device helped a little.

I continued to take over the counter anti-inflammatory pills (aspirin was particularly helpful), but the pain did not go away. I kept telling myself that it will get better soon, but nine months later, I still had pain at the top of the shoulder, in the back of the neck, and the bicep area from the shoulder to the elbow.

Visit with the specialist

A fter nine months of pain, I decided to see an orthopedic specialist. The exam started with the doctor collecting information about the history of my injury. During the exam, the doctor checked the range of motion of my shoulder and muscle strength. We also talked about what movements make my shoulder hurt.

The doctor performed two tests: an X-ray to check for fractures of the bones and an ultrasound to check for tears in the tendons, muscles, and bursas in my shoulder.

The X-rays images showed the parts of the body in different shades of black and white. Different tissues absorbed different amounts of radiation. Calcium in bones absorbs x-rays the most, so bones looked white. Fat and other soft tissues absorb less and looked gray. Air absorbed the least radiation, so areas with air looked black. If there were a break in the bone, it would appear as a black line on the white space. The X-ray also can show bone spurs and arthritis, which can cause muscle irritation and inflammation.

The ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves to produce images of structures within the body. During an ultrasound, the doctor applied gel to my skin over the area being examined. The gel helped prevent air pockets, which can block the sound waves that create the images. The gel was water-based, and it was easy to remove after the exam by just wiping the area with a tissue.

During the test, the doctor pressed a small, hand-held transducer against my shoulder and moved it around the entire shoulder area. The transducer sent sound waves into my body, collected the waves that bounced back and sent them to a computer to display them. Ultrasound was painless, and sound waves are very safe; no worry about any side effects.

Fortunately for me, the tests showed no breaks or tears.

What is a rotator cuff

A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. They keep the head of the upper arm bone firmly within the shallow socket of the shoulder.

What caused the pain

T he doctor explained that my pain was caused by swelling, which resulted from the over-use of the shoulder joint. The swelling caused the pinching of the tendons in the shoulder. The pain in the bicep area, the doctor said, was referred pain from the bicep tendon pinched in the shoulder joint and this pain is very frequently associated with rotator cuff injuries.

Do not ignore the pain

W ithout treatment, rotator cuff problems may lead to permanent loss of motion or weakness and may cause progressive shoulder joint degeneration. Although resting the shoulder is necessary for recovery, keeping the shoulder immobilized for a prolonged time can cause the connective tissue enclosing the joint to become thickened and tight (also known as the frozen shoulder).

Cortisone shot

W ith no breaks or tears, the doctor gave me a two-step solution to healing my shoulder. The first step was a cortisone shot, and the second step was a prescription for physical therapy. He told me that if I did not feel significantly better in six months, I could come back for another cortisone shot.

Cortisone shots are injections that can help relieve pain and inflammation in a specific area of your body. Cortisone shot reduces inflammation, and this reduces the chances of the muscles being pinched by the shoulder joint. The shot typically reduces swelling by 80%, and physical therapy often helps with the rest. A repeat cortisone shot in six months often is used for stubborn cases. Because of the potential side effects, the number of shots you can get in a year is limited. Repeated cortisone shots might damage the cartilage within a joint.

The doctors typically limit the number of cortisone injections to no more often than every six weeks, and usually not more than three or four times a year.

The injections usually contain a corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic. The corticosteroid medication relieves pain and inflammation over time, and an anesthetic to provide immediate pain relief.