Over-View of all things Rotator Cuff Injury/Tear and Treatment
Over-View of all things Rotator Cuff Injury/Tear and Treatment in the Algarve
(check back in the coming weeks as Dr. Bock will be writing many info posts about the Rotator Cuff)
Enjoy life again… Pain-FREE!
The Rotator Cuff is made up of 4 muscles that surround the Shoulder Joint
As a group, they stabilize and hold the Shoulder Joint together. Individually they turn and move the arm in different directions.
Any Injury or Tear of the 4 Rotator Cuff muscles can cause a wide variety of aches and pains. The injury can most often limit your arm’s movement and cause difficulty in your activities, and also disturb your sleep.
The Shoulder Joint is the most complex and moveable joint in the body. There are 18 muscle attachments to the Shoulder Blade.
A muscle normally has 2 jobs… managing 2 opposite movements.
- Contracting to help us move. and the opposite…
- Controlled relaxing/lengthening to slow our movement down.
The 4 Muscles of the Rotator Cuff
- Supraspinatus – raises the arm out to the side, controls the arm when being lowered
(Supra – The most commonly injured muscle) - Teres Minor – lowers the arm to the side, controls the arm when being raised out to the side
- Infraspinatus – rotates the arm outward, controls and slows the arm when rotating inward
- Subscapularis – rotates the arm inward, controls and slows the arm when rotating outward
Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor
Supraspinatus and Subscapularis
Here’s our patient who had been diagnosed with a Rotator Cuff Tear.
Unable to lift his arm more than 50%, due to pain and immobility.
During his first Treatment he regained ALL of his mobility and NO PAIN.
Causes of Rotator Cuff Injury / Tear
Injury or Tear to the Rotator Cuff can occur during nearly ANY movement of the arm. You need an Expert to correctly diagnose and give proper Treatment.
Rotator Cuff Injury/Tear can be caused by (to name a few), 1) Trauma/Injury and 2) Wear and Tear:
1. Trauma
- Overhead activities (carpentry, tennis, swimming, lifting boxes or luggage)
- Turning the arm inward or outward (tennis, closing/opening a door, a fall)
- Suddenly having your arm Pulled or Twisted (such as your dog pulling on the leash)
- Rotator Cuff Injuries / Tear can happen from a 1000 different things,
and even from just Sleeping on the shoulder!
2. Wear and Tear
- Newest research is showing that the Rotator Cuff Muscles act like ropes and pulleys to lift, raise and turn our arm. Because the Shoulder Joint is THE most mobile joint in our body, the Rotator Cuff Muscles get pulled in many different directions and rub around the shoulder blade and arm bone (humerus). This constant rubbing causes “fraying” of the muscles and tendons, much like a rope gets frayed when constantly rubbed.
- The research also shows that “wear and tear” is a normal process that is just going to happen to most of us as we get older. At age 40, 40% will have a tear in the Rotator Cuff Muscle. Age 50, 50%. Age 60, 60%, and so on. This is like a ticking time bomb just waiting for something to happen for a full-blown shoulder problem.
Symptoms
Because there are 4 muscles of the rotator cuff… symptoms of an injury or tear can vary widely. In general, your symptoms may be any combination of pain, achiness, weakness, limited movements, painful sleep.
Your symptoms, what you can or can not do, is very important in arriving at a correct diagnosis.
Diagnosis
Because of the complexity of the Rotator Cuff, a proper Expert Orthopedic exam is critical to properly diagnose your injury.
Your Symptoms plus an Orthopedic Exam is the BEST way to correctly diagnose most Rotator Cuff Injuries / Tear.
Only then can specific Treatment help you heal more quickly.
Rotator Cuff MRI / CT-TAC / Echo-Ultrasound / X-ray
New research is showing that advanced imaging studies are of little or no help in the early stages of care and treatment of the Rotator Cuff Injury / Tear.
Research also shows that 87% of us have a ‘non-symptomatic’ tear in the Rotator Cuff (causing us NO problem at all). Same with elite athletes! But this non-symptomatic tear can often be seen on a scan and it can lead to an Incorrect Diagnosis resulting in… treatment in the WRONG place = Delayed Recovery!
Research shows your REAL injury may NOT be seen on the scan. (We learned this about lower back injuries a long time ago.) Now we are understanding the same about Shoulder and Rotator Cuff injuries / tear.
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Scans can mislead us.
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Scans are of little benefit unless you require surgery or conservative care fails.
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SCANS can contribute to delayed recovery!
Save your money.
Come see us, get proper expert treatment and get your Shoulder fixed the First time around!
Call us today.
Traditional Care
Usually involves various physical therapies that attempt to try to do something to the injury site.
Sounds good…But… without addressing CAUSE of the constant ‘Re-Injury’… care can take many months or years.
You may then be referred for surgical correction, just because enough wasn’t done to help you.
Surgery
I’ll leave this later for an in-depth post as it’s quite involved… and an expensive option. However. Most people do NOT require surgery. But unfortunately, you may be sent to surgery ~needlessly~
How Our Rotator Cuff Treatment is Different and How it Helps You get Better… FAST
Dr Bock specifically treats…
1) Your Rotator Cuff Injury/Tear,
2) Corrects the constant Re-Injury of your Shoulder
The Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic…also has a full line of physiotherapy including…
laser, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, rehabilitation exercise therapy, Kinesio tape, ergonomic expertise, activities of daily living evaluation and recommendations, postural control, computer phone corrections, etc
When all phases are addressed, most Rotator Cuff patients recover quickly. Dr Bock’s Rotator Cuff Treatment helps 93% of patients recover in less than Five Sessions.
Dr. Bock discovered and developed “The Shoulder Revolution Solution”
while working as an Olympic Doctor treating elite athletes of track and field, swimming, martial arts, and power weightlifting. He helped them return to competition in a matter of days or weeks (instead of the usual months or years).
Dr. Bock will do everything he can to get you well as quickly as possible!
Cost of Care
Too many people are needlessly referred to rotator cuff surgery which can cost: € 7,000 to € 15,000.
And/Or… Six months of rotator cuff physical therapy which can cost € 3,000+.
At The Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic…
Most people spend less than € 300. AND are on their way to recovery in less than FIVE sessions.
€ 300 v. € 7,000
FIVE sessions v. Surgery
Call us Now and get well Quickly!
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS
REVOLUTIONARY ROTATOR CUFF TREATMENT
click here
or
call for your FREE Consultation and Orthopedic Exam
+351 282 352 202
282 352 202
Pain-FREE Shoulder Clinic / Dr. Bock serving Lagoa Lagos Carvoeiro Portimão Silves Porches Ferragudo Alvor Estombar Parchal Monchique Loulé Faro Villamora Praia da Rocha Almancil Quinta do Lago Vale do Lobo Family Medical Centre Tavira Albufeira Armação de Pêra Guia Alentejo Lisboa Lisbon Algarve, Portugal