Rotator Cuff and Tennis Elbow

Hi All,

Looking for some help. I damaged my rotator cuff in January this year and have been moving it and using resistance band for stretching it as well as daily chores and lifting my heavy 3 year old nephew. In March I hit my elbow and it was causing me issues on holiday and providing shooting pains over the elbow and pins and needles down my arm so I attended the doctor again May 20th who said it was tennis elbow. The advised that I should move my shoulder but keep my elbow still.

I got referred to Physio through my employer and had my first appointment today and I am in agony following it. He said the joint is stiff and that is what's causing the issue in my shoulder. He was very rough and when I asked him to stop as it was so painful when he was pressing into the joint he said if he continued was I going to cry but continued anyway.

I have been moving my shoulder and doing things with the shoulder and not just keeping it immobile as he suggested.

I'm just looking for some advice if the pain and pressure was so bad I asked him to stop should he have? Would putting hard pressure onto the joint in shoulder/Rotator cuff cause that much pain if the joint was just stiff? I had been swimming yesterday and had a deep tissue massage so I thought my shoulder was loose compared to normal.

Thanks so much for your help in advance

Natasha

Hi shoulder problem.

The usual form of treatment for this sort of problem is to mobilise and stretch the shoulder.

A small group of Physios work on the principal that the problem is referred pain from, in this case, the spine.
The general name for this approach is the "T4 syndrome".

If the problem is not resolved quickly secondary pain can be palpated in the shoulder and elbow as well as to
the side of the Thoracic spine - T4 is the lateral side of the elbow, C7,T1,2 is the lateral side of the shoulder.
T7,8, is the lateral side of the hand and posterior shoulder, C1,2 is the medial side of the hand, elbow and anterior shoulder,
Also Occipital headaches and some Tinnitus problems.

Treatment to these spinal areas includes mobilisation, posture correction, manipulation, TENS, Ultra Sound.
Heat will give symptomatic relief.

Find a Physio who knows about the T4 syndrome.

A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons which work together to stabilize the shoulder. Rotator cuff tear happens when any one or more of this tendons tears. Tennis elbow is also called lateral epicondylitis which is caused due to the overuse of arm, forearm, and hand muscles which result in elbow pain. The primary symptom is pain and tenderness on the outside of the elbow. Arthroscopic surgical methods are available for both rotator cuff problems and tennis elbow. check the link to know more about tennis elbow and rotator cuff problems : Elbow Services | Tennis Elbow Treatment | Cochin