Rotator Cuff Exercises

So after months of a sore shoulder, I went to the Doc. MRI completed, now I’m waiting for a shoulder specialist, to probably do another MRI (w/ Contrast ~ why they don’t do that the first time around, I’ll never know). Anyway, in the meantime I was given a list of exercises to do (pre-hab).

There were 8 of them on the page. It turns out, I can do all of the rotator cuff exercises with strength and without pain, with the exception of Palms Up, Front Raises. I am completely unable to do this without a feeling of grave discomfort and instability. Very weak in this lift also. In fact, I used my TV remote (instead of the recommended 15 lb db yesterday), and it was more than enough.

Does anyone know what my injury could be based on the fact that ‘only’ the Palms Up Front raise causes me difficulty?

Whats the location of your shoulder pain?

[quote]RunnerUK wrote:
Whats the location of your shoulder pain?[/quote]

Backside of shoulder (posterior)~~~ the sore area is the spot underneath the muscle you’d be training if you were doing bent over side raises (though that particular exercise is not painful).

Firstly, do you have any limit range of motion internal/external rotation?

Try some soft tissue release (i.e. tennis ball) on your pec minor/ anterior delt - let me know

[quote]RunnerUK wrote:
Firstly, do you have any limit range of motion internal/external rotation?
[/quote]

No limits to range of motion, just the weakness doing palms up front lateral raises. It “pops” when moved in certain directions.

I’ll try the tennis ball per suggestion ~~~~

[quote]iplan wrote:

[quote]RunnerUK wrote:
Firstly, do you have any limit range of motion internal/external rotation?
[/quote]

No limits to range of motion, just the weakness doing palms up front lateral raises. It “pops” when moved in certain directions.

I’ll try the tennis ball per suggestion ~~~~ [/quote]

Let me know how it goes mate

Okay ~ I’ve been rolling my anterior around on the ball, and now have increased strength and range of motion ~~~~~

Not 100% but noticeably better.

Hey Bud,

Sorry to hear about the injury. I’d be remise in answering your question though and wouldn’t want to do harm.

I’ve had the same problem for 6 months. 2 Pts and 2 Chiros plus cortison did nothing. Finally ultrasound and MRI showed the rotator and tendonitis problem and I have a much better PT than the first two, who were doing some stupid soft joint manipulation thing.

Anyway, I’m taking creatine to help the muslces get stronger and sticking tightly to the PT and resting. I’m doing way less PT exercise than recommended though. Only every 2 days NOT everyday. And I am going to have to get some kind of direct intervention, like therapeutic ultrasound, when insurance kicks in in January.

Heat doesn’t seem to do anything, at least not 20 minutes a day. Who has hours a day to apply heat? Don’t even know if that would help. I’m sure you have considered this option, though.

Hope some of that helps.

Jason

Iplan, your injury sounds reasonably similar to one I had not so long ago.

I found “Prone Trap Raises” to work like magic.

might want to give those a try

I had 9 tears to my RC in my left shoulder. It has been a slow healing. However the list of RC exercises do help a lot. I add them to my normal workout plan. I have since strengthen the muscles around the injury/surgery, which helps too. the actual injured areas (lies “undermeath” as iplan shared above) are a pain to work out. I still use the lateral and front raises along with the cable interior/exterior pulls. After surgery, a lot of PT and many specialist, just hitting the weights, being smart and consistent are paying off.

Could be a labrum tear. You are right a contrast MRI is generally what they use to diagnose this as it doesn’t always come up on the normal MRI.

I would advise you to look up a SLAP lesion. This is the attachment point of the long head of biceps into the glenoid labrum. This would explain the pain/weakness lifting your arm straight up in front of you.

[quote]iplan wrote:
So after months of a sore shoulder, I went to the Doc. MRI completed, now I’m waiting for a shoulder specialist, to probably do another MRI (w/ Contrast ~ why they don’t do that the first time around, I’ll never know). Anyway, in the meantime I was given a list of exercises to do (pre-hab).

There were 8 of them on the page. It turns out, I can do all of the rotator cuff exercises with strength and without pain, with the exception of Palms Up, Front Raises. I am completely unable to do this without a feeling of grave discomfort and instability. Very weak in this lift also. In fact, I used my TV remote (instead of the recommended 15 lb db yesterday), and it was more than enough.

Does anyone know what my injury could be based on the fact that ‘only’ the Palms Up Front raise causes me difficulty?[/quote]

iplan,

Did you have your contrast MRI?

What was the outcome??

Pain with palms up front raises indicates an issue with the long head of your biceps tendon. This comes from overuse, and can lead to a labral tear if left unattended to.

I am no expert but my shoulder issue is a thing of the past for 11 weeks.
Obviously i have no clue if our problems were identical. Mine was with my dominant 1 so after months i decided to give it total rest. It might have been a tendonitis, an area about the top attachment of bicep or tricep plus i had a trigger point about my scapula.
Even lifting a fork or washing myself in the shower could create pain so i realized that a gym rest was not enough. I used a belt to strap my arm to my torso for a day and after i left my belt around to see it daily and remember to not use my arm. After 5 weeks i slowly rehabed with

  • hands pullapart using bands(that are often used for pilates/rehab)
  • broomstick stretches(using a scarf)
    No more need for foam/ball rolling.
    Wish you well.

Could you please give me a list of the exercises? How many days a week do you do them? And do you do them before or after your regular workout? Thanks in advance.

RC exercises are … vastly overrated. I am recovering from having a bunch of my RC muscles re-attached. What the RC muscles do is work together to keep the ball in the socket and thereby resist the deltoids. Making them rotate, which they can assist in, actually, according to my PT, can mistrain them to fire and increase the chance of injury. I have not really done any direct RC exercises in my rehab and so far, so good.

I have been doing ITY’s (arms straight and hold for a 3 - 5 count at the top of each rep), facepulls (make sure you get the form right), pushups with feet on a stability ball, then once that is solid, turn around and try pushups with hands on them. There are others, but you should be able to find more exercises like this.

– jj