Rotator Cuff Woes

Often, when working in the shoulder area, I receive the question “is that the rotator cuff?” the short answer is “yes, it’s part of it”, the long answer is, the rotator cuff is such a complex joint and to describe what’s going on while I work on that area can be a bit of a chore for the brain of a client who is trying to relax.

I started writing about this topic weeks ago. I started diving into an anatomy lesson, thinking about how I wanted to describe all of the pain and complications that can happen to our rotator cuff, and the ways in which we can keep it healthy. Ultimately I imagine that draft will sit in my collection of unfinished work, as my hopes with my blog is not to turn it into a lesson plan, but a way to express my feelings about my work and the world around us.

The rotator cuff is indeed complicated, and we’re often told “torn labrum”, “shoulder replacement”, “torn rotator cuff” and start to cringe. The thing is, a diagnosis isn’t necessarily what causes pain and medicine isn’t what can bring us relief. Understanding the rotator cuff is something I’m passionate about. I designed and teach a course that takes 8 hours on how to dive into the rotator cuff.

As a matter of fact, finding relief is something that I tout in my business, regrettably. Yes, I want my clients and students to feel better, but where my discrepancy lies is in the philosophy of what the term “better” means in general. I think many people see pain management as a destination, where to me, it is the journey. Exercise, massage, surgery, injections, pain medication, all of these will aid in making something feel better, they’re steps on the path that moves us forward.

I think of a healing lifestyle like walking up an escalator that’s going down. We have to make an effort to go up as the stairs go down. If we hold still, if we do nothing, we go down with the stairs. If we take steps once in a while, we may stay where we are. If we commit ourselves and give it all we’ve got, we can move up.