Rotator Cuff Pain

The rotator cuff is formed by a group of four muscles in the shoulders. Pain in the rotator cuff is almost always experienced, either in the front of the shoulder or on the outside. The pain gets worse if the person experiencing it raises his arm over his head. The pain can be so bad that it makes even the easiest of tasks difficult to perform. Experiencing pain at night is very common, thus besides making simple jobs difficult to do, it disturbs a person's sleep, waking him up several times in the night. Below are the reasons why rotator cuff injury and pain occur, followed by the treatment for the same.

Causes

Rotator Cuff Tendonitis
Also known as shoulder bursitis, shoulder tendonitis might be the reason behind the pain. In this condition, the bursa; a cushion-like structure between the rotator cuff and acromion becomes inflamed, causing mild to moderate shoulder weakness.

Rotator Cuff Tear
Tears in the rotator cuff can result from prolonged tendonitis or if a person lifts something really heavy, causing the shoulder to "pop". In both conditions, severe shoulder pain is experienced.

Shoulder Dislocation
Pain can be caused if the shoulder is held loosely in the socket. Shoulder dislocation usually affects younger people who indulge in sports such as swimming and basketball.

Treatment

Active Rest
The first thing that doctors recommend is "active rest" i.e. keep the shoulder moving by doing some simple things such as picking the glass or opening the door, but at the same time avoiding strenuous activities such as indulging in sports activities like tennis or lifting very heavy objects.

Medication
Certain medicines such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen and naproxen are prescribed by doctors to reduce the swelling and for pain management. Sometimes an anti-inflammatory steroids injection might also be given.

Exercises
Certain exercises have to be performed to alleviate the pain and discomfort. Initially exercises such as rotating the shoulder in large circles, should be undertaken so that a "Frozen shoulder" does not occur. Once the person becomes comfortable with doing such range-of-motion exercises, resistance exercises such as those which are done using light dumbbells and rubber tubing are introduced. And finally, resistance training using weight machines and free weights are undertaken.

Massage
Massaging the shoulder helps in easing off the symptoms. Massaging on a daily basis helps in improving the blood circulation in the affected area, thus speeding up the healing process and relieving the pain associated with the injury.

In case the pain refuses to go or if any weakness is felt in specific arm motions, in spite of the above mentioned measures been taken, the reason could be a tear in the rotator cuff. In such a case, surgery has to be undertaken to put the shoulder structure in place. Pain after surgery is managed by giving the patient anesthesia and certain pain killers such as Demerol and Morphine (through injections) and Tylenol with codeine orally. Surgery is performed for tightening the loose ligaments, repairing or trimming torn and damaged tendons, and for removing calcium deposits. In most cases though, the pain and injury gets cured though conservative treatment.