When it comes to muscle pulls and tears, there's nothing quite like rotator cuff pain. It not only hurts a lot, but you also have to suffer the misfortune of losing the mobility in your arm. You never realize how much you rely on a body part until you can't depend on it anymore. I mean, you're used to being able to casually reach for items off of a shelf, or throw a ball across the yard, or even pull a t-shirt over your head.

But now, each one of these activities is a struggle, because every time you go to use your injured arm, it aches, and is stiff as a board in some cases. Yep, a rotator cuff injury is no laughing matter. But, you're slightly encouraged because you learned that if you do rotator cuff exercises, your shoulder can get better - even healed completely.

This is true, but I want to give you a word of caution: don't just jump into any old upper arm exercise routine and think you'll be safe. You see, this area in your arm is very delicate, and it got injured because of too much wear and tear. When a rotator cuff is pulled or torn, it can be the result of over strenuous activity, or years of using your shoulder and arm to perform various tasks.

Most of us never think about how much we use our arms and shoulders until something happens to them. We take them for granted most of the time. Even when we're having fun or working out, we are putting stress on those rotator cuff muscles. Doing normal arm exercises may actually end up making your problem worse, because most exercise routines aren't designed to address this particular area of the body.

In order to get your shoulder back to normal, you'll need to do specially designed rotator cuff muscle exercises. These are gentle exercise routines that involve stretching motions and some light strength training. You can use exercise bands, a lightweight dumbbell, or even a towel to perform each exercise. They are not designed to get you toned, but to increase the strength and elasticity of the rotator cuff.

The goal of these exercises is to target the source of your pain. Doing so means that gradually, you'll begin to feel a sense of relief when you lift your arm. But, the only way this will work is if you make a full commitment to actually performing these exercises on a regular basis. Even if you normally don't do any kind of exercising, in order to get the full benefit from rotator cuff exercises, you'll need to follow the program as laid out.

The reason why I'm emphasizing this is because there are many people suffering from this awful pain, including you, who could greatly benefit from a targeted series of simple exercises, but for one reason or another, just kind of think about it without taking any action.

I want to stress that you can be free of the pain and limited mobility if you really want to be. If you've watched any type of sports, then you know that athletes often suffer from muscle injuries that are quite painful. Sometimes they have to leave a game, or be carried off the field due to these muscle injuries.

After a few weeks, many of them are able to get right back into their sport and play like nothing happened. Yes, sometimes this is because of pain medication, but often they are given extensive therapy that targets the exact area of the muscle that needs rehabilitation. The average person never sees this workout, but obviously they are very effective in solving the problem.

So, there's no reason why you can't do the same thing for your own painful shoulder. All it takes is your willingness to learn the routine and follow easy instructions.