How to Identify a Rotator Cuff Injury
Posted On: July 26, 2024 by Robert Matijevich
What exactly is a rotator cuff injury?
The rotator cuff consists of four muscles along with their associated tendons, and this enables stability in the shoulder’s joints as well as movement on the arms. This makes rotator cuff injuries quite common, particularly for people who may be seen engaging themselves in activities such as repetitive arm movements. This is what normally comes in whenever there is any damage or weakening that happens to one of these muscles or two of those tendons.
At Mossy Creek Rehab, we specialize in diagnosing and treating rotator cuff injuries, providing top-tier care to our community in Jefferson City.
Main Causes and Symptoms of Rotator Cuff Injury in Jefferson City
The primary causes of rotator cuff injuries include various factors; knowing them might make it easier to avoid or identify the condition:
- Repetitive Motion: If you engage in activities such as painting, swimming, or playing tennis, they require repeated arm movements, which, in turn, may strain the rotator cuff over time.
- Acute Injury: A sudden fall or lifting something too heavy can tear the rotator cuff muscles or tendons.
- Degenerative Wear: In the course of getting older, we experience a natural degeneration of our tendons, which leaves us more exposed to getting hurt.
Additionally, these activities, which involve a lot of working with the hands above our heads, can worsen such injury-causing processes as shafting and spinning unwanted materials around us.
Early discovery of rotator cuff injury signs is important. These include:
- Persistent Shoulder Pain: Pain that worsens with arm movement or at night.
- Weakness: Difficulty lifting or rotating the arm.
- Limited Range of Motion: Stiffness and a reduced ability to move the shoulder freely.
- Cracking Sensation: A clicking or popping sound when moving the shoulder.
Diagnosing Rotator Cuff Injuries in Jefferson City
We use a thorough method of diagnosing rotator cuff injuries in our Jefferson City clinic. Normally, after a body checkup, we determine the movement range at the shoulder, along with its strength and spot-sore points.
Bone spurs or other structural issues can be found using X-rays together with other imaging tests, but detailed images of the rotator cuff tendons and muscles needed to identify tears or inflammation are provided by MRI and ultrasound scans.
Popular Rotator Cuff Injury Treatment Options
Once identified, the treatment plan for a rotator cuff injury will depend on how severe it is. Several effective procedures for treatment exist at Mossy Creek Rehab. Normally, these non-surgical treatments entail rest and modification of physical activity to avoid painful movements. You could use over-the-counter pain relievers and anti-inflammatory meds to deal with symptoms when slight pain occurs. If the pain is much worse, then it might be necessary for you to consider taking a steroid injection, which will help in reducing inflammation as well as decreasing pain experienced in that area.
Surgical options may also be opted for when non-surgical methods don’t work. If the tear is small, an arthroscopic tendon repair can be done, as it is a less invasive surgery for torn tendons to be reattached. On other occasions, especially when there are more extensive injuries necessitating a traditional surgical approach, one may need an open tendon repair rather than other types of operations. In extreme cases, when broken beyond fixing, the transfer of nearby ones to replace the destroyed tendon will suffice.
Physical Therapy for Rotator Cuff Injury Management
Physical therapy is critical in the treatment of rotator cuff injuries, whether a surgical or non-surgical approach is being taken. In Jefferson City, our clinic has custom-made physical therapy programs that will help get your shoulder back in action and even better than it was before the injury occurred, post-surgery. For instance, a patient may use ice or/and heat therapies, as well as ultrasound or electric therapy, to relieve pain, among other reasons.
Regaining strength is important as well. It is important to focus on the rotator cuff muscle group to accomplish the purpose of increasing shoulder stability. Moreover, flexibility is boosted and an opportunity is given to bring back a full range of motion when you indulge in stretching exercises, which ensures that no pain is felt as the shoulder moves freely. Our physical therapy specialists also inform our patients on how to prevent injuries in the future and ways to sustain their shoulder health, making long-term recovery an easier task.
Why choose Mossy Creek Rehab?
We pride ourselves on being a premier rotator cuff injury clinic in Jefferson City at Mossy Creek Rehab. All our members are experienced and provide personalized care, as well as well-defined plans on how they can treat each patient according to their own needs. We put importance on giving out comprehensive diagnoses, advanced treatments that are available, and physical therapies that are devoted to making sure all our clients recover to the maximum level and go back to doing what they were doing without having any pain.
If you are experiencing signs of a rotator cuff injury, don’t hesitate to reach out to Mossy Creek Rehab. Our expert team is here to help you navigate your path to recovery with compassion and expertise.
