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Shoulder Injuries and Their Treatment

Shoulder Injuries and Their Treatment

Shoulder problems and injuries most often occur in athletes exercises who raise their arms above shoulder or head level (overhead activities) in their disciplines.

Injuries occur due to weakness of the rotator cuff, which causes weakness of the shoulder joint.

X - ray picture of sore shoulder.

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles whose tendons wrap around the head of the humerus (upper arms). The function of the rotator cuff muscles is to stabilize the shoulder joint when starting.

Types of shoulder injuries

  1. Rotator muscle injury
  2. Bursitis (inflammation) of the shoulders
  3. Luxation (dislocation) of the shoulder
  4. Swimming shoulder

Rotator muscle injury – occurs as a consequence of lifting large stresses and lifting weights above the head (bodybuilding, weightlifting). This injury can be reflected in tendon rupture, tendon inflammation and tendon adhesion to the bone.

Bursitis – Tendon tightening and irregular movements lead to increased friction between the tendon and the bone. As a reaction, there is great inflammation, irritation and swelling of the shoulders.

An example of shoulder bursitis.

Luxation – A condition in which the bone of the upper arm protrudes from the malice and is found in front of or below the shoulder. On that occasion, ligaments can rupture, nerves and blood vessels can be injured.

Swimming shoulder – A characteristic injury to the shoulder, where the rotator cuff muscles are stretched or ruptured. Apart from swimmers and water polo players, this type of injury also occurs in tennis players, basketball players, rugby players and even some manual workers.

Signs of shoulder injury

  1. Pain when raising the arm to the side
  2. Pain when raising the arm behind the head or behind the back
  3. Pain when raising the arm upwards
  4. Pain in front of shoulder

Treatment of shoulder injuries

The first week of treatment

To begin with, an immediate cessation of all activities and shoulder loads is required. Local treatment begins immediately after the injury, and is carried out by cooling the injured area, ie. ice is placed on the injured area for 7 minutes 3 times a day.

The first step of treatment - ice is placed on the injured shoulder.

After that, the appropriate gel is rubbed on the place of the injury.

This period of treatment lasts up to 7 days, when it is necessary to reduce shoulder pain by up to 90 percent. During this phase, kinesitherapy or physical therapy (current, magnet, …) is also considered.

Second week of treatment

Avoid any shoulder load (except exercises according to the program), carrying loads, sleeping on the injured shoulder, raising the arm above the head, etc.

The program of the second week of treatment contains:

Static contractions

Shoulder stretching

A guy is stretching injured shoulder.

Ice 3 times a day

Gel 2 times a day

Static contractions – are performed on a fixed resistance (wall, part of the furniture) so that the shoulder puts pressure on that object as if we want to move it. These exercises can be performed with front, side and back shoulder pressure.

Shoulder stretching – is an important part of the treatment to achieve shoulder elasticity. Stretching is always performed when the muscle is warmed up.

Third week of treatment

This phase begins when the shoulder is completely painless, both to the touch and under load.

The program contains:

– Weight training

– Stretching

– Ice massage

– Rubbing the gel

A guy is rubbing gel on injured shoulder.

In order to heal faster, in addition to the above, additional treatment methods (kinesitherapy, physical therapy, ultrasound, massage), as well as rehabilitation can be used.