freak'n a$$ rt shoulder really ticking me off

Out of interest, does anybody know (Physio??) if there is a relationship between rotator cuff problems or weakened shoulders and past participation in certain sports like cricket, baseball, rugby, AFL, gridiron, tennis, squash etc?
Looking for a trend, that's all!

yeap . pretty much all those sports you could injure your shoulder, the injury then leads to muscular weakness.

throwing sports-cricket,baseball, grid-iron all require over arm throwing placing strain on the rotator cuff. The throwing is not the problem and can and does increase rotator cuff strength. The problem lies with the repetitive, high force nature of the training and the loss of optimum control through the movement when trying in increase the internal rotation (throwing) force can injure you.

rugby, grid-iron and AFL , your risk lies more with the contact nature of the sports. rotator cuff injury occurs when landing on outstretch arms or being forced into end range positions to name a few.

check this out

www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/article.asp?article=755§ion=8

www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/article.asp?article=47§ion=8#Throwers

I don't know

More than half my patients are rotator cuff injuries, more than low back pain.
Some have long history of sport, some have never played.
My belief is that there is very poor blood flow in the sub ac. arch as we age that gets worse. Any thickening of tendons/bursa also make it worse. All increasing risk

Might there be a set of exercises, which won't irritate my shoulder, that will strengthen or stabilize the rotator cuff so I can paddle more than a couple of miles once every two weeks?
If I do push-ups or chin-ups, even a few, my shoulder gets sore several hours afterward.
My shoulder never bothers me while I'm paddling (two miles max., so far) but it will give me fits starting quite a few hours after a paddling session and last for a week.
I'm getting another MRI this week and talking with my friend who's a shoulder surgeon. My last MIR was 14 years ago when I first developed this condition and it showed only minor issues, i.e. no tears, but slight Acromium (sp?) spurring. I don't think I have made it any worse but I won't be able to continue paddling unless I can solve the problem.
It used to bother me in the same way when I started rowing 7 years ago but it doesn't any more.
I may just have to stick to rowing.
I'm 68 years old.
Is an Acromeoplasty (sp?) a possible option with highly likely positive results and minimal recovery time?

As with paddling, there is a correct way to do your exercises to prevent injury and if you are getting pain from doing push ups and pull ups it would be worth getting your form checked out by an expert in movement competency. Try getting in touch with a Sport Institute and getting a session with a strength and conditioning coach who can observe your form and show you the correct way to exercise, including some alternatives to start of at lower loads using correct form and a gradual increase in loading the target area, for instance using the correct form doing push ups standing and using a door way to perfect your form before putting body weight into the exercise. Too much too soon and using incorrect form will only make things worse. I can't stress enough, much like paddling, the correct form is crucial before trying to do the movement to prevent injury.

And yes, there are many exercises that will increase your shoulder stability and they are pretty easy to do (very little load as well) and can be used as part of your warm up, but hard to explain, a strength and conditioning coach that has experience with paddlers will be able to coach you in these.

I have found the Convict Conditioning programme a good gradual way to increase strength.



This has ten stages to push ups, pull ups etc starting as KG said with low impact exercises whilst vertically orientated and slowly building up to 1 arm push ups for example. Has good descriptions and pictures of each exercise to assist with form.

with and hooked or spurring on the acromion you are more likely to aggravate your shoulder especially with activities where your arms are shoulder level or higher. so two important factors I have mentioned earlier would be shoulder-blade upward rotation and rotator-cuff(RC) strength.

when the shoulder girdle is working well your shoulder-blade rotates upwardly when lifting your arm above your head. allowing more range of movement of your arm. if your shoulder blade is stiff or does not move as it should you get impingement at the acromion.

GOOGLE scuplohumeral rhythm. there are a few easy to understand descriptions.

if the rotator cuff is injured or weak your head of humerus ( the ball part of the joint) rides up into the acromion causing impingement.

both of these really need to be assessed in person by a professional

acromioplasty could work well to improve the impingement but even with no spurring or hooking ,if your RC is not working well or if you have dysfunctional scapulohumeral rhythm you can still get impingement.

with an acromioplasty , they are shaving off bone. so you are going to be a little sore for a few weeks after and as with all surgery there is a risk of infection.

weigh up all your options . get advice from the professionals who know your case.

in the mean time Google the rockwood protocol ... it is a safe way to strengthen your RC.

1xsculler wrote: I'm getting another MRI this week and talking with my friend who's a shoulder surgeon.
Is an Acromeoplasty (sp?) a possible option with highly likely positive results and minimal recovery time?

Don't bother doing anything till you have discussed MRI with your friend it's only this week.