Most of you must have heard of rotator cuff injuries. You might equate rotator cuff with football or baseball but most of the people with rotator cuff pain or injuries are not the ones playing soccer of baseball. They are the ones sitting on the computer all day and working.
What Are Rotator Cuff Injuries and How Do They Cause Pain?
The rotator cuff in your body is a group of 4 small muscles. The main function of the rotator cuff is to stabilize your arm so that that it could fit into the arm socket.
Stabilization of the arm into the arm socket is required for all the movements of your arm. If it’s not stabilized, you cannot move your arm freely in every direction. Shoulder and the rotator cuff are often subject to tendinitis and muscle strains.
Most common injuries rotator cuff muscles are the teres minor, infraspinatus, and supraspinatus. The 4th one, that is the subscapularis is the least injured of all.
The supraspinatus is attached to the top of the arm and this is the reason why it is injured the most. If it gets damaged due to a subacromial arch, the injury might be diagnosed under the name, impingement syndrome.
Why Is Rotator Cuff Pain Dangerous to You?
No Joint other than the rotator cuff offers movement and motion in your body. But how can you detect if you have rotator cuff pain? The answer is simple.
If you are feeling weakness in that area, try to lift something off the highest shelf in your home or at your workplace. Or else, try to throw a ball from over your head. If you feel pain while doing either of the experiment, you might be suffering from rotator cuff injuries.
Frayed Muscles
The rotator cuff is surrounded by your shoulder socket from all sides, so, what would happen if the muscles will swell? The interior pressure might increase the blood circulation through your muscles might diminish, allowing the muscles to fray.
The Academy of American Orthopedic Surgeons tells us that aging might cause the muscle tendons around the rotator cuff to weaken, hence causing rotator cuff pain. People who are above 65 must be well-aware of the rotator cuff injuries.
How Massage Helps to Alleviate Rotator Cuff Pain?
To reduce pain and stiffness in your rotator cuff, the best thing is to keep your muscles and tendons around the shoulder socket flexible. This is only possible if you improve your range of motion and muscle flexion through regular massage therapy.
Massage therapy includes elongating the tendon and muscles through proper stretching. Not only can this relieve stiffness but increase blood circulation in the affected area.
Moreover, it would also increase your motion range and make your muscles loose. Loose muscles are less prone to pain and strain. Consequently, the risk of rotator cuff pain and injury would be little to none. Massage therapy also reduces the stress that a person might get from strained muscles.
