Shoulder Injuries
The shoulder joint has the greatest range of movement/activity among all the joints in the body. This feature, though extremely useful for the body, may also face the higher risk of getting injured than other body joints. Shoulder Injuries can range from pain and stiffness to dislocation. At times an ignored stiffness of shoulder can lead to an aggravated condition of dislocation too. Reasons for shoulder injuries among athletes result from excessive overhead movements in activities such as swimming, tennis, weightlifting etc.
Symptoms of a Shoulder Injury:
As mentioned earlier the severity of shoulder injuries may at times sprout from negligence of shoulder pain and stiffness.
Be alert and consult your orthopaedician when you have any of the below mentioned symptoms:
- Stiff Shoulder
- Difficulty in rotating your arm in normal positions
- Pain, swelling, numbness, tenderness, tingling or weakness
- Difficulty in carrying out your daily activities
- A feel that your shoulder looks little twisted or not in a normal position
Categorizing Shoulder Injuries:
To have a better knowledge about the functioning of shoulder its basic anatomy should be considered. As explained by the experts:
“The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint with three main bones: the upper arm bone (humerus), collarbone (clavicle), and shoulder blade (scapula). These bones are held together by muscles, tendons, and ligaments.”
Most shoulder injuries are related to muscles, tendons and ligaments that hold the shoulder together and not the shoulder bone. Repetitive stress to these three aspects results into severe shoulder problems. Therefore when athletes undergo continuous training sessions there are high chances that they would strain the muscles, tendons and ligaments of their shoulder.
Orthopaedicians categorize shoulder injuries on the basis of the part affected:
- Instability: A condition that is caused due to the shift of a shoulder joint from its normal position. This can also lead to dislocation of the joint. Extreme pain while lifting the arm and a feel that the shoulder is slipping out of place are the general indications of a condition of Instability.
- Impingement: “Excessive rubbing of the shoulder muscles against the top part of the shoulder blade” has been explained by experts as the reason for Impingement. This particular shoulder injury is a condition when the shoulder is burdened with excessive overhead motion. An inflammation on the shoulder itself should be an indication of such a shoulder injury.
- Rotator Cuff injury: A rotator cuff is the most important part that holds the joints of shoulder bones together with the help of a group of muscles and tendons. Rotator cuff helps a person lift his/her arm and reach overhead. The severity of this condition is such that the patient will rarely be capable of doing full-fledged athletic activities after recovering from it.
Treating Shoulder Injuries:
The key to recover from a shoulder injury is to get it diagnosed at the earliest. You are the best judge of your health. A persistent faint pain or weakness at the shoulder can well be an indication to a severe shoulder injury. Therefore consulting your Orthopaedician at a slight suspicion of injury is worth a lifetime.
For initial relief and lessening pain and swell, you might be given Anti-Inflammatory medication. The dosage will strictly depend on the severity of the injury.
With an aim to strengthen your shoulder, which would be the next step, the orthopaedician will prescribe shoulder exercises that have to be done only twice a day. For instance:
- Basic shoulder strengthening exercise which can be done by attaching elastic tubing to the door knob at home. Gentle pull of the elastic tube towards you and holding it for 5 five minutes comprises the procedure. 5 repeats of the above mentioned exercise with each arm should do the trick.
- Wall Push Ups- 5 Push ups on the wall with your hands on the wall while facing the wall and your feet parted at your shoulder-width distance, each time held on for the count of five, will gradually strengthen your shoulder.
- Another easy exercise is Shoulder Press Ups that can be done while sitting on the chair. Sit upright in a chair which has armrest. Make sure your feet touch the floor. Use your arms to slowly rise from the chair. Hold for a count of five. Repeat five times.
Shoulder Injuries take some time to heal and therefore it demands your patience and cautious nature. In every case the best proverb to follow would be that- ‘Prevention is better than Cure’.