Rotator Cuff Injury: Wendy's Advance7 Story
Wendy is back out on a Tuesday, a year after a torn rotator cuff took her off the course.
A torn rotator cuff took her off the golf course: how Wendy from Suffolk played her way back
Wendy · Suffolk
Wendy has played golf for most of her adult life. A rotator cuff injury took the club out of her hands altogether, and for the best part of a year she could not swing at all. She was not prepared to leave it there. She tells us what she did about it, and what got her back onto the first tee.
Wendy, tell us a little about yourself.
Golf is the thing. It has been for years. It is not just the round, it is the people, the walk, the fresh air, having something in the diary on a Tuesday. I am not a good golfer, before anybody gets excited, but I am a keen one, and there is a difference. Losing it was much worse than I expected, and I do not think I understood that until it was gone.
How did the shoulder start?
It came on over a season rather than in one moment. A soreness at the top of the arm that I put down to a heavy week, and then it got worse, and then it got a lot worse. It ached deep in the joint, it ran down into the upper arm, and it was at its worst at night. I could not lie on that side at all. Reaching up to a shelf, or back to put a coat on, would catch me and take my breath away. The backswing went first. I could still putt, but I could not take the club back properly, and there is not much golf in that.
What did you think it was?
I assumed I had pulled something and that a couple of weeks would sort it out. I strapped it, I bought a shoulder support to wear under my jumper, and I carried on far longer than I should have, which is exactly what everybody does. The support helped a little, but it was holding the line rather than fixing anything, and eventually even holding the line stopped working.
When did you find out what it actually was?
I went to my doctor, and she sent me on for a scan. It was a rotator cuff injury, a tear in one of the tendons of the cuff, the group of muscles and tendons that hold the shoulder in place and let you lift and rotate the arm. She talked me through what else it might have been, the wear and tear you get with age, a touch of bursitis, that sort of thing, but the scan was clear enough. It was a relief to know, and it was also a bit of a blow, because a torn rotator cuff is not something that mends in a fortnight.
What were you offered?
Physiotherapy first, which is the usual route, with a programme of rotator cuff exercises to build the muscles back up around the joint, and anti inflammatory tablets when it was bad. The physiotherapist was clear with me that surgery is on the table for some people and not for others, and that in my case it was worth giving the exercises a proper go for several months before anybody talked about an operation. So that is what I did.
And you did the exercises?
Religiously, and I say that as somebody who has never done an exercise programme in her life. I did them twice a day, every day, for months. The trouble is that the exercises hurt, and when a thing hurts you do less of it, and when you do less of it you do not get better. That is the trap, and it is a real one. The soreness was the reason people give up, not the exercises themselves.
Where did Advance7 come in?
A friend at the club had been going on about it for her hands. I was sceptical, because by then I had a drawer full of things that had not worked, but I was determined to get back on that course and I would have tried anything. I started working the gel into the shoulder, at the front and round into the back of it, before my exercises in the morning and again at night. My husband does the part at the back of the shoulder that I cannot reach, and I use the spray for it when he is not about. I take the capsules alongside.
What difference did it make?
It let me do the work. That is the honest answer and I think it is the important one. It took the edge off the soreness enough that I could get through the exercises properly instead of skipping half of them, and it settled the ache at night so I slept, which matters more than people realise when you are trying to recover from anything. I am not going to tell you a gel mended a torn tendon, because it did not, the exercises and the time did that. But I do not believe I would have stuck at the exercises without it, and if I had not stuck at them I would not be playing now.
So you are back playing?
I am. It took the best part of a year and I came back gently, half rounds at first, and I still warm the shoulder up properly before I go out and use the gel afterwards without fail. The swing is not quite what it was and I have made my peace with that. I am back out on a Tuesday with my friends, walking round in the fresh air with a club in my hand, and a year ago I honestly wondered whether I ever would be.
What would you say to someone with the same injury?
Get it scanned rather than guessing, because I wasted months assuming it was a pulled muscle. Then do the exercises, all of them, on the days you cannot be bothered as well as the days you can, because that is the whole of the treatment. And find something that takes enough of the soreness off that you can keep doing them. For me that was Advance7 and a very patient husband. Whatever it is you want to get back to, hold onto it, because wanting it badly enough is half the job.
Wendy's experience is her own and results vary from person to person. Advance7 is a massage gel and not a medical treatment. It does not repair a torn rotator cuff. If you have shoulder pain that is not settling, or you cannot lift or rotate your arm, see your own doctor or physiotherapist.
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The rotator cuff, the four muscles and tendons that hold the shoulder in place.
Frequently asked questions about rotator cuff injuries
These are the questions we are asked most often about the rotator cuff. They are for general information only and are not a substitute for seeing your own doctor or physiotherapist.
What is the rotator cuff?
The rotator cuff is the group of four muscles and their tendons that hold the top of the arm bone in the shoulder socket and let you lift and rotate the arm. Because it does so much work in so many directions, it is one of the most commonly injured parts of the shoulder.
What are the symptoms of a torn rotator cuff?
The usual symptoms of a torn rotator cuff are a deep ache in the shoulder that often runs down into the upper arm, pain that is worse at night and makes it hard to lie on that side, weakness when lifting, and difficulty reaching up or behind you. Wendy had all of them. A sudden loss of strength after an injury should be looked at promptly.
What causes a rotator cuff injury?
Some rotator cuff injuries happen in a single moment, a fall or a heavy lift. Many more build up over time, from wear in the tendons as we get older and from repeated overhead or rotating movements, which is why they turn up so often in people who play golf, racket sports or swim, or who have worked with their arms above their heads.
Can you heal a torn rotator cuff naturally?
It is worth being straight about this, because a great many people search for it. Nothing you rub on the skin will mend a torn tendon, and no cream, gel or supplement can. What does help a good many people is a properly followed course of rotator cuff exercises from a physiotherapist, time, and sensible management of the pain along the way, and plenty of cuff tears are managed successfully without surgery. Your own physiotherapist or surgeon is the person to tell you which route is right for you.
Do shoulder supports help?
A shoulder support can be comfortable and can take a little strain off while you are moving about, and some people find one useful in the early weeks. It does not treat the injury underneath, though, and it is not a substitute for having the shoulder assessed. Wendy wore one and describes it as holding the line rather than fixing anything.
What rotator cuff exercises are usually given?
Physiotherapists usually start with gentle range of movement work and then build in strengthening for the cuff muscles and the muscles around the shoulder blade, often using a light resistance band. The exercises should be set for your particular shoulder rather than picked off the internet, and the single most important thing is doing them consistently.
Can Advance7 be used on the shoulder?
Yes. Advance7 gel is made to be massaged into the area that feels sore, so the shoulder suits it well. As Wendy describes, many people work it in before and after their exercises, use the Advance7 Spray for the back of the shoulder that is awkward to reach alone, and take the capsules alongside. It is for the soreness, not for the injury itself, and it belongs alongside the advice of your physiotherapist rather than instead of it.
