The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that help stabilize our shoulder within it’s socket as we do overhead movements. There are four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, each muscle has a different action and all must be equally strong and flexible in order to avoid a number of different shoulder injuries.
Those muscles are:
- Supraspinatus
- Infraspinatus
- Teres minor
- Subscapularis
Shoulder Injuries
Rotator cuff strains are common in professions that require a lot of repetitive overhead movements and are common in sport athletes who participate in overhead motions for example:
- baseball
- tennis
- basketball.
It is also possible to experience rotator cuff tendonitis which is inflammation of the muscle tendons. Though strains may be common, there are a number of stretches and exercises that can be performed in order to heal the rotator cuff and eventually strengthen so that the injury does not occur again.
So what do you do for a rotator cuff problem?
The great news is that physical therapy can help! Physical therapy can increase range of motion, function, endurance and strength of your shoulder. We have plenty of success stories here at Loudoun Sports Therapy Center from the advanced athlete that needs their shoulder to compete to the grandparent who wasn’t be able to pick up their grandchild. So let us help you to get those shoulders up and moving.
