Did you know that your rotator cuff consists of 4 very important muscles? These muscles are known as the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis.
These 4 muscles work together to provide stability and mobility to the shoulder joint. They assist in internal and external rotation and also keep the joint stabilized during certain movements of the arm.
The shoulder is the most mobile – but least stable joint in the body. For this reason it is quite common for injuries to occur to this area. When the rotator cuff muscles develop tendonitis, become impinged or are damaged – It can cause a wide variety of painful symptoms in the body.
It is common to feel a “sharp and precise” pain deep in the shoulder during certain movements or to feel weakness in the arm.
It is common especially in people who’s profession involves lots of work where the arms are in an overhead position. (like painters and automobile mechanics)
Osteopathy is one of the best treatments available for rotator cuff issues! This is because we treat the entire shoulder systematically. We work on all the affected muscles and also on the joint itself to reduce tension and to increase the range of motion of the joint.
We also make sure each of these muscles are activating properly. If 1 muscle is not activating properly the rest of the muscles must compensate. This can cause a lot of weakness and pain. As Manual Osteopaths we always seek to keep the joints gliding smoothly and the muscles firing properly!
