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Here’s
the scenario. You wake up. Your shoulder is stiff
or it’s just plain hurting. You realize
it hurts to move your arms and, quite frankly,
your shoulder isn’t operating right at all.
You think back to the previous day. You lounged
around watching TV and did absolutely nothing
that could have injured your shoulder. You woke
up and felt this way. Do you know it’s
possible that you’ve still sustained a rotator
cuff injury?
A rotator
cuff injury usually occurs when you damage
one of your four shoulder muscles. Maybe you don’t
know how it occurred. That’s because many
rotator cuff injuries don’t happen as a
result of any one event. In some cases, they progressively
occur over time. This is called a chronic rotator
cuff injury. On the other hand, some
people can easily isolate the event of injury.
Maybe they fell and landed on their arm. Maybe
they were in an accident. That type of rotator
cuff injury is called an acute injury because
it springs from a one-time event.
Ignoring
your rotator cuff injury is not the best
course of action. Although you may want to convince
yourself that it will get better on its own, it’s
possible that might not be the case. While less
serious rotator cuff injuries do not require surgical
intervention, they can be very painful. Wouldn’t
it make sense to see a doctor and have him prescribe
some anti-inflammatory medication to aid you in
your recovery process? Since even minor rotator
cuff injuries (impingement) take an average of
a few months to heal, they can become bothersome,
uncomfortable, and even painful.
The
other important reason to seek medical care when
you sustain a rotator cuf injury is because you
don’t know whether you have a torn rotator
cuff or not. You simply can’t diagnose yourself.
A doctor can’t even diagnose you from a
physical exam. He will have to order an anthrogram.
Don’t let the name scare you. It’s
a pretty simple test where dye is injected through
the vein. It flows through your veins to highlight
the damaged area in your shoulder. The doctor
can look at the highlighted area to determine
whether you have an injured or torn
rotator cuff.
If
your rotator cuf is not torn, you won’t
need much medical treatment. As stated before,
your doctor may prescribe medication to help with
the symptoms. He might also suggest that you shop
for a new pillow, such as a memory
foam pillow, that offers better support during
sleep. If, however, your rotator cuff is torn,
the doctor will have to make a decision based
on the severity of your injury if you need surgery
or not.
In
many cases of rotator cuf tears, a doctor will
determine whether or not surgery is required.
In many cases, a doctor will say that surgery
is the best option because, if left untreated,
the condition can cause you more pain. It can
also lead to more serious problems like arthritis.
Although nobody likes to undergo surgery, sometimes
it’s the best treatment for rotator
cuff injuries.
Written
by Dr. Joseph J. Berke, M.D., Ph.D.
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