Alright, I know that if you have injured your rotator cuff right now the last thing you need is some happy person being glib about how to fix it, but the reality is that for most of us rotator cuff rehab is really very simple. The only exceptions to that are if you have either managed to acquire a full thickness rotator cuff tear or a bad rotator cuff tear. If you have then you'll be booking corrective surgery before you start using your shoulder again.

But, like I said, for the majority of us rotator cuff rehab is relatively simple.

The first thing that you need to understand is what kind of injury you have, because when you do, then you can start to understand how you are going to sort it out.

A rotator cuff injury is damage to the muscles of the rotator cuff. These are a group of four muscles that all connect to the shoulder blade at one end and the top of the arm at the other. Their job, in the great scheme of things, is to help hold the arm in place as you move. Depending on what movements you make, different muscles within the group work harder. Once your arm is above shoulder height your rotator cuff is working at its hardest to stop the ball of the humerus coming away from the shoulder joint socket

This is why when you damage your rotator cuff it always seems to hurt worst when you raise your arm above shoulder height or reach for something.

the muscles are all grouped tightly together forming a cuff of muscle around the joint to help hold it in place. They run across the surface of the shoulder blade. One of them, the supraspinatus even runs through a channel of bone at the top of the shoulder blade before it attaches to the humerus.

This is the tendon that causes the most trouble with a cuff injury because when it gets inflamed and swells up it has nowhere to go so it starts to get pinched by the bone which causes further pain and injury. Think of it like an old being rubbed against a hard surface. Sooner or later it will start to fray and eventually it will snap.

So if you want your rotator cuff to heal completely there really are omly three steps.

Step one, rest the muscles to let it heal. That means avoiding any painful movements. That may involve changing the way that you work for a week or two or even taking some time off.

Step two, treat the inflammation. Try anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen and start using ice packs whenever you are able. If that doesn't worksee if your doctor will give you a steroid injection.

Step three, once the muscle has started to settle down start a simple course of shoulder specific physical therapy exercises aimed at strengthening and rebuilding the muscles of the rotator cuff. These will involve small movements with little or no resistance that isolate and exercise this small but important group of muscles.

It's quite simple really. Muscles won't get better unless you rest them. Working through a rotator cuff injury will cause more damage. Let the swelling go down before you start exercising and do exercises that strengthen the right muscles.

Told you it was simple! I know because that's exactly how I fixed my shoulder.