Help! - Rotator Cuff injury

[kMaclennan]

Saw an osteopath the other day and she conformed what I thought - I've strained my rotator cuff muscles in both arms( left worse though) and I am holding alot of tension in my shoulders, my shoulders are quite rounded and chest constricted.

There has been more noticable tension in my left shoulder over the years- fell and damaged AC joint ~8 years ago, closely followed by breaking arm (radius and ulna) .
WW has helped alot however I've been doing it daily for 2months and I've notice an overall improvement in my ROM.
Initially I noticed a fair amount of 'clicking' when doing rear plane elbow circles on both arms although it was more pronounced in my left -It felt like something was 'moving' in my upper arm. I just put this down to the built up tension over the years. Now this motion is really quite sore and restricted.
I've been working towards starting a DD of swipes and Mills (15lbers)( see Maclennan's Training Log for a bit of an idea, I,ve a couple of entrys to add!) and fear I may have put undue strain on my shoulders by not implepenting the pec-lat lock correctly in these exercises.

Sorry I've been a bit long winded!
I've been off the clubbells for over a week now/osteopath suggests another week at least - just doing WW -and really want to get back on track.
I plan to back and practice the core component ex of the swipe and mills a la Core Cadre Curriculum - try and get it right this time!
Any suggests for rehab will be gratefully received!!!

thanks

kenny

[rbibbs]

Preliminary (and lay) observations Kenny... in swipes are you keeping your elbow in, i.e. pointed straight forward or straight up and not out to the side? If it's out to the side, you have to unlock your pec to go there, so that's one way to tell.

I can't find "rotator cuff" in my anatomy book, that may be the generic term for it, but it's my understanding the rotator cuff raises the arm forward and upward. If it were hoarding tension as a result of injury, the opposite range of motion (to the rear) would be impeded as you're describing. It's possible to have "clicking" in perfectly healthy joints, I would tend to dismiss that as a source of trouble.

Proceed as your osteopath directs. Don't force motion against pain where it doesn't want to go, explore where it will go. Did you have rehab for your previous injury? It probably hurt 'some' but not 'extremely'. That roughly defines rehabilitative motion. Pain over a rating of '6' on a scale of 10 suggests that further injury is impending, while a rating of 2-5 suggests that the injured structure is being coaxed back toward function.

Repeating, lay perspective. I'd be hesitant to suggest anything which might conflict with your osteopath's intent. You might ask her again, what you can do to help with recovery.

[Jarlo Ilano]

The "rotator cuff" is comprised of four muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis. SITS is the handy acronym.) Their tendons converge to form the so-called cuff.

The main function is maintain proper mechanics of the glenohumeral joint. Pretty much its keeping the "ball" rolling in the "socket" correctly. If they do not do the job correctly, you end up with overtension and strain in certain structures. This can lead to a variety of minor to major problems. One of the worst being a predisposition to a tendon or capsular tear (worst case scenario).

You may want to clear this up before engaging in too intensive of a clubbell regimen. Just my opinion...

[rbibbs]

Thanks Jarlo. That was my 'concept' of the RC, a semisoft junction of several muscles, but I'd never seen it defined as a structure in text. I've had lots of problems there, one muscle at a time, largely nerve impairments from poor neck articulation. The shoulder is so complex, it deserves its own medical specialty.

Kenny, definitely (as Jarlo says) resolve this before continuing active resistance training.

[kMaclennan]

Cheers guys!
Although I am impatient to get on I realise it's important I do address this problem first. I think I may have been flaring my elbows out on the swipe, thanks for the insight.
I'll keep on with the WW and the osteopath suggested alternating hot and cold compresses for the inflamation and stretches for openng my chest (started already a la Pavel's chest opener ex). I'll continue to give them a go and see how things are when I see her again next week.

Thanks again for your advice. :D

Kenny :D