First Post - and Rotator Cuff tear discussion!

First post on Steemit!

Short History:

• I'm a Physiotherapist by trade, and clinic owner. Most blogs will be about health, wellness and musculoskeletal conditions and management!
• I have a strong passion for exercise based rehabilitation used for injury treatment and prevention. I am not an advocate of pseudoscience, excessive modality (ultrasound, TENS etc) use, or gimmicky treatment techniques.
• I am currently based in Canada, however I have spent the last 5 years living in Australia and travelling the world!

Lets kick this off by addressing a common condition seen in clinic:

Shoulder pain "caused" by a Rotator cuff tear!

• Firstly what is a Rotator cuff? It's a group of four muscles that dynamically stabilises and depresses the "ball" of the ball and socket joint that is your shoulder. This allows for free movement of your shoulder without "impinging" other structures.

• Shoulder pain is one of the most common complaints seen by Physiotherapists, and the Rotator cuff is often blamed because of findings on diagnostics (Ultrasound or MRI).

Here's a scenario:

• Yes, you have shoulder pain and have just gotten your MRI results ... your doctor says you have a Rotator cuff tear. Immediately, that bad news subconsciously tells you that this pain isn't going away quickly.

• That's bull. Rotator cuff tears are actually a pretty normal part of ageing. Studies have shown that in a population of people, roughly the same number of people who have shoulder pain have a rotator cuff tear, as those who have no shoulder pain whatsoever - its strictly based on age and the normal ageing process.

• Now, this does not mean that the tear definitely isn't causing your pain (Especially if there was a traumatic injury associated), however it does mean not to freak out about it, and to understand that the tear may have been there before your shoulder pain even started.

• The problem is that when people get these "bad" scan results, they think physiotherapy or conservative management won't help, they don't bother with it and their condition slowly gets worse and worse - unfortunately often resulting in surgery. They see "Rotator cuff tear" and immediately think that an injury will be with them for a lifetime - leading them to always be hesitant to use their shoulder/arm as it is meant to be used (often and freely) - actually making it more likely to have more shoulder pain in the future.

• As clinicians, its time to start educating our clients about normal "pathologies" of ageing that show up on scans (degenerative disc disease, disc bulges etc), most of which have nothing to do with the pain you may be experiencing.

• Start a targeted Physiotherapy treatment program immediately, as it will likely help your condition.

Next post will be about MRI results, and other poor "diagnostic findings", that do not necessarily correlate with, and most likely have nothing to do with your pain!

Comment below if you have been given some poor diagnostic results... and feel free to recommend any future blog topics!

Yours in health,

• NewAgePhysio.