Healing Joint Injuries - Why Rotator Cuff Exercises Are Helpful

Rotator cuff exercises can be beneficial to anyone with a previous injury or for those who are in a high-risk category for injuries to occur. High-risk categories for injuries include those who play sports, have heavy physical labor jobs, those in the health-care industry, and even those who just do consistent repetitive motions. Weight-training is also another risk factor for rotator cuff injuries.

The biggest key to preventing rotator cuff injuries is to be aware of any type of pain in your shoulder, and don't continue any type of activities that hurt until after you've spoken with your physician. While there is still some debate as to whether or not rotator cuff exercises will actually strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulders, it's not a bad idea to try these with the advice and supervision of your physician or a physical therapist.

If you do happen to injure your rotator cuff you will likely have symptoms such as pain when you attempt to move your arm upward and away from your torso, pain and weakness in the arm along with a definite soreness in your shoulder area. An indicator that you've had an injury occur is whenever any type of basic activities that require you to lift your arm upwards- whether you're lifting or not- hurt to do.

Rotator cuff pain usually will occur in most people- especially in men- as they age, regardless of whether there has been an injury or not. This is is due to the normal "wear and tear" of life on our joints. The key to knowing whether your pain is due to an injury or not is to seek the advice of your physician, early treatment is the best prevention for surgery that there is.

Rotator cuff exercises can- to some degree, as with any other type of exercise- help to strengthen the area of muscles responsible for mobility in the shoulder. For those already injured, a good orthopedic surgeon or specialist can refer you to a physical therapist who will then recommend some types of exercises and movements that will actually help heal the injury and prevent further damage.

The actual term "rotator cuff" refers to a group of muscles that help to stabilize the shoulder and help the arm function. If you've torn a rotator cuff, the best treatments are to rest the entire area- minimalize movement of the area and joints. Apply ice packs several times a day, this will help to reduce inflammation and encourages circulation which will help promote healing.

Specific rotator cuff exercises can be found either by discussing with your physician, or doing a search on the internet- various medical websites have instructions and diagrams for all types of muscle and joint exercises. Yoga is also a good form of exercise for prevention and promoting healing, because it is low-impact and poses can be modified to adjust for losses in mobility.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about rotator cuff exercises, please visit Joint Health Now for current articles and discussions.

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