Pilates and the Rotator Cuff

You or someone you know may have been diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury. What does this mean and how can pilates help? The rotator cuff is made up of the muscles and tendons that attach your arm bone (humerus) to your shoulder blade (scapula). They also stabilize the arm bone firmly in the shoulder joint. Because the scapula isn’t connected to another bone in the shoulder joint, it allows for great flexibility but it also allows instability. Rotator cuff injuries can come from many sources from repetitive stress such as lifting heavy objects repeatedly above the head to an actual injury incurred by trauma such as falling. Poor posture in the upper back and shoulders also increases your risk of rotator cuff injury because of the strain this can put on the shoulder joint. As people age their risk for rotator cuff injury increases usually because they decrease use of the area especially if poor posture has been present for many years putting more stress on the shoulder joint. Symptoms include pain in the top of the shoulder when reaching over head such as combing your hair as well as reaching behind such as putting on a jacket, pain when sleeping on the affected side, loss of range of movement and weakness. If you have any of these symptoms and they have persisted or gotten worse for 2 weeks you should go to your doctor immediately! If your doctor doesn’t refer you to physical therapy then request it. Your doctor may want to give you a steroid shot and you should research the effect of steroids in the body before you accept this. Most people can recover completely from rotator cuff injuries with therapy and self care. The key is not letting the pain go on too long before you go to the doctor. The longer it persists the longer the healing process. After you’ve been diagnosed you should rest the shoulder, especially if the injury is from repetitive movement, but not let it get stiff. Gentle stretching and movement is important and pilates has some great tools you already know for this. Arm circles on the mat is important to keep up, and if you don’t have too much pain you can add 1 lb weights to keep up your strength. All of the principles you have learned in pilates such as ribcage placement, head and neck placement and shoulder mobility and stability, should be applied to your every day life to assist your posture and give your shoulders the best chance possible to heal. This will also prevent your from returning to the incriminating postures when your shoulder starts to feel better. If you are taking private pilates sessions, your instructor can help make sure you are doing the physical therapy exercises properly. You also might want to ask your instructor for a referral to a physical therapist that is willing to communicate with your instructor. Remember that it will take time to heal, maybe longer than you want, but keeping a positive attitude will help decrease your recovery time!

Melissa Noble
from Bloomington, IN