injury prevention

Many of the patients I see with shoulder pain have injured themselves as the result of strenuous, weight-bearing exercise. As high impact, strength-related exercise programs have increased in popularity, many people are putting too much weight on their shoulder joints. While the benefits of exercise are indisputable, it is important to understand how the shoulder works and how best to avoid injuring this delicate joint. The shoulder is built for range of motion rather than stability. It is a ball-and-socket joint held in place by a thin sleeve of muscles and tendons called the rotator cuff. Excessive weight on the shoulder can damage the cuff as well as other soft tissues around the joint. Exercise programs that work the large chest and back muscles should also include exercises with light weight or elastic bands for the smaller rotator cuff muscles. If you feel shoulder pain when exercising or playing sports, DO NOT WORK THROUGH THE PAIN. Rest your shoulder for two weeks and take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen, if necessary. If, after two weeks, you return to your activity and still feel pain, you should consult an orthopedist. Repetitive or continuous use of the shoulder at a young age can lead to injury. Children under the age of 16 should avoid playing any single sport for more than 8 months of the year, especially swimming, baseball or tennis, to prevent shoulder overuse. Heavy weight training is also a potential cause of injury. OrthoConnecticut, a member practice of OrthoConnecticut, offers an expert group of orthopedic specialists, including a team of sports medicine doctors who work with sports-related injuries and conditions of all kinds. The practice has its own x-ray, MRI and on-site physical therapy specialists, allowing patients to recover in one single, integrated location. All the practice’s physicians are