A rotator cuff injury is one of the most common injuries amongst athletes and laborers. This is because the shoulder and arm are the most used and abused of the joints in the body for these people.
The rotator cuff is the group of tendons and muscles that form the shoulder joint and hold the arm into the shoulder socket. The cuff has a protective layer around it that is fluid filled which helps to reduce the amount of inflammation from friction between the cuff and the bones in the shoulder.
A person who has a rotator cuff injury will find that it becomes very hard to reach up over their head and that any movement of the shoulder joint is very painful. They may also experience weakness in the arm that is injured.
A rotator cuff injury is usually treated initially with rest and an ice/heat combination. If this fails to work, the physician will ask the patient to participate in some physical therapy treatments. These treatments will help to rehabilitate the shoulder joint. If the physical therapy is unsuccessful or the original injury is serious enough, rotator cuff surgery may be performed and then followed up with physical therapy.
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