{"id":1169,"date":"2011-06-16T11:59:01","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T15:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eastpointe.wpengine.com\/physical-therapy-for-rotator-cuff-injuries\/"},"modified":"2023-10-16T11:44:59","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T15:44:59","slug":"physical-therapy-for-rotator-cuff-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/physical-therapy-for-rotator-cuff-injuries\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Therapy for Rotator Cuff Injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By Mai Vu, Physical Therapist<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Physical<\/p>\n

The term Rotator Cuff is used to describe a group of 4 muscles:\u00a0 Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor, and Subscapularis.\u00a0 The purpose of these muscles is to stabilize the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint when the arm is moving.<\/p>\n

Classically, rotator cuff exercises involve shoulder rotation, where the elbow is held in one place while the hand moves through an arc.\u00a0 Exercises like the one below improve the strength of the rotator cuff.<\/p>\n

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However, when addressing rotator cuff problems, it is also important to improve dynamic stabilization of the shoulder girdle.\u00a0 The shoulder complex needs both strength and dynamic stabilization in order to function properly.\u00a0 Dynamic stabilization can be likened to balance.\u00a0 It is easy to appreciate this concept in regards to the lower extremity.\u00a0 Someone may be able to lift heavy weights on a Seated Knee Extension machine, so they would be considered \u201cstrong\u201d; however if they have no balance they will not be able to walk, run, jump, or skip very well.\u00a0 Respectively, in the upper extremity it is possible to have strong muscles (including a strong rotator cuff) while lacking dynamic stability.\u00a0 In this situation the shoulder complex may function improperly and this can lead to a rotator cuff injury.<\/p>\n

Posture is also another important element to address.\u00a0 In a person with the typical \u201ccomputer posture\u201d, the space that houses the supraspinatus muscle and subacromial bursa decreases.\u00a0 When the arm is moved or raised, impingement of the supraspinatus and subacromial bursa is likely to occur and may result in tendonitis, bursitis, or even a tear.<\/p>\n

Although treatment to improve dynamic stability and posture is complex and comprehensive, here are examples of exercises that address dynamic stability (first picture) and posture (second picture).<\/p>\n

Lean against a wall with a small ball in one hand, like shown in the picture.\u00a0 Your body should be at a 45 degree angle so that you are not directly facing the wall.\u00a0 Keep your chin tucked in and do not arch your back.\u00a0 Move the ball in small circles, both clockwise and counterclockwise.\u00a0 Repeat 30-50 times.<\/p>\n

\"Physical
\nPlace a foam roll or towel roll on the floor.\u00a0 Lay on your back with the roll along your spine and your knees bent.\u00a0 Keep your palms facing the ceiling.\u00a0 Relax in this position for 1-3 minutes.\u00a0 Gravity will help stretch the front of your chest and shoulders.
\n\"Physical<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mai Vu, Physical Therapist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6292,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-physical-therapy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 08:58:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastpointehealthandfitness.com\/integrated-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}