hi molly,
the exercise i was given was to start with arms at side, palms against body, and to raise arms 90 degrees out to side, palms down (with light 2-3 lb weights, up to 20 repetitions). i modified the exercise to fit my needs. i started with no weight. raised arms in that direction just a few inches / few degrees just a few times until i just started to feel a "twinge". as time went on, increased repetitions til i could do 20 to that height. then raised a little higher, just until i felt the "twinge". then worked up to 20 repetitions. kept going higher, then more repetitions, etc, until i was up to 90 degrees out to side, palm down. then repeated the whole process over again with 1 lb, then 2 lb, then 3 lb weight. then started doing different angles, instead of straight out to side, or straight out front, did those plus everything in between, even turning hand different angles to get different feels. it was actually somewhere in between there that i felt the most, that was the most difficult. just kept working until i could do all those angles with no more pain. don't remember if it was 3, 4, 5, 6 months, just know it was a long time, very patient, just adding a repetition or two each day, a few degrees, each time. that was back in the early 2000s when i hurt my right rotator cuff pretty badly. this time in the fall, it was a different part of the rotator cuff, so the angle that was the most difficult was a bit different, and the impingement was a little different too, but my approach was the same. didn't even need to go to PT this time, knew what to do based on what i had learned the first time. hope that helps and is detailed enough but not so much so that one gets bogged down in the description. to be honest, its one of the few tendons i feel i know how to strengthen properly after tearing. that first physiatrist taught me well. she had originally been trained and worked as a PT before she went back to med school to become an MD. she was great, was able to help me with both the "doctoring" and the practical PT avice as well. but then i had to move to a different state. i still miss her.
Last edited by Sue22; 03/10/10 10:20 AM.
