It's actually a 3 year old injury so I that's really all I remember about what she said but I think she was trying to keep the explanations in laymans terms. She didn't say it would actually tear it she said that particular muscle lifts, that's all it does and if the inner muscles of the rotator cuff are not strong enough to resist the upward pull it's as if the larger muscle were trying to tear my shoulder apart. She was trying to let me know we had to strengthen the opposing muscle group. I remember she couldn't believe how far forward my shoulders sit in their sockets and how my shoulder blades stick out like chicken wings, she was calling other people over to show them and told me "You're built weird". Overhead lifting isn't exactly the right term, I would grab 35+/- pound trays (3 ft long) off of shelves that were anywhere from knee to chest high. I pull straight out with my right hand, catch the bottom of the dropping tray with my left hand continuting the motion until my right hand is by my hip at which point I begin a circular motion that brings the tray up past my ear and onto a platform that's anywhere from eye level to as far up as I can reach. I tended to keep my shoulders up by my ears (shrugged if you will) while doing this. The PT said I had to focus on keeping my shoulders relaxed. I don't remember the name of the muscle she was talking about but my sister always called it "the hand" you could see the definition of every "finger" in that muscle on my shoulder after I had been doing the job for a few years so I know it was getting stronger. I remember a couple of the exercises we did, standing with my nose against a wall and bouncing a ball against it while moving my arm in an arc. Laying on my back with a dumbbell in my hand with arm extended to ceiling and simply lifting my shoulder, my body was cheating on this one and it took a long time for her to figure out how to do it to work the intended muscle group. Once she figured that out I went from being able to do the exercise with 25 pounds to only being able to do it with 5 pounds. We had to back off some of the exercises because the therapy combined with my job (even though I went to light duty) was doing more harm than good. We finally found a good mix and I was able to return to my job using a different lifting method, I learned to lift with elbows close to my body instead of spread like chicken wings. Now I'm in an office job so I should be able to start weight training since the extra stress of the job is no longer a factor. The doc had advised against working my shoulders at the gym (other than the PT exercises) after getting the results after I did my therapy.coach_izzy::06: Are you sure that is what your PT said?
I think your PT was just trying to scare you from putting anything overhead. Happy and fast recovery
Ber :lilbunny: