Ways to Prevent Rotator Cuff and Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder injuries are some of the worst injuries to have for anybody. If you haven’t already experienced a shoulder injury, especially rotator cuff injuries.

It’s almost as if you were to take the arm of whichever shoulder you injured and cut it off. Not from a pain perspective but looking at it as how much you can move that is essentially what you are doing.

It can be extremely difficult to move your arm because your shoulder is what controls how your arm moves. You must take good care of your shoulders to avoid these types of injuries.

What even is a rotator cuff injury?

The function of the rotator cuff is to keep the shoulder stable. The tendons connect to the upper arm bone and the shoulder blade.

When any of these parts of the rotator cuff get injured, it can be excruciating and hard to move or do anything with that part of your arm.

How do we avoid these types of injuries?

A rotator cuff is a group of muscles, just like biceps and triceps, and a stronger muscle is less likely to be injured. So just like any other muscle, the rotator cuff, if consistently exercised and made stronger, will have a significantly smaller chance of being hurt.

A great way to test if something is wrong with your rotator cuff is the rotator cuff tear test.

Most rotator cuff injuries are a result of repeated overhead arm motions. If your job is centered around these overhead arm motions, say heavy lifting items and putting them on high shelves, them something that you should look into is daily rotator cuff exercises.

Bad Habits to Abandon

Bad posture can be a factor in rotator cuff injury. Lousy attitude can alter the position of your shoulder blades, which can, in turn, weaken the muscles in your shoulder blades.

Practicing good posture can strengthen the muscles in your rotator cuff, which in turn lowers the risk of injury.

Sleeping on your side with your arm extended over your head can be detrimental to your rotator cuff.

The overhead shoulder motion is already bad enough for your shoulder, that for about 8 hours per day with the entirety of your body weight against it only bad things are bound to happen.

Smoking is also terrible for your shoulder, to believe it or not. Smoking decreases the amount of blood flow that reaches your rotator cuff, which can only lead to bad things.

Shoulder injuries are a harrowing experience that you are going to want to spare yourself from.

To do that some steps are involved, working out your shoulders, and getting rid of bad habits that could potentially lead to you getting injured.

It’s also necessary to realize that for you to stay healthy, you have to take good care and respect your body. Proper nutrition and a healthy diet can also decrease the chance of you getting injured.