When a person injures their shoulder or elbow they will need treatment options that will work. There are proven remedies that can help a person to overcome this problem. The current methods for healing an elbow or shoulder injury is commonly performed by various medical professionals within the health field.
Ice and Heat Packs
When an athlete or a person working on a job injures their shoulder or elbow they typically are given ice and/or heat packs. Ice packs are commonly used on shoulder and elbow injuries when they first occur. Ice reduces swelling, slows down blood flow and reduces muscle spasm and pain. Heat treatments can also be used to heal a person’s shoulder or elbow after a couple of days. Heat packs are designed to increase blood flow and to relax muscles. This website explains that the combination of cold and heat packs will optimally work to heal injured areas.
Slings for Shoulder and Elbow Injuries
When a person injures their shoulder they often time must use a sling during the recovery process. This is also true for elbow injuries as well. Slings help people with damaged elbows and shoulders to get around without having to move their arms. Remember that people use their arms and shoulders to help balance them when they walk. When these two parts of the body are damaged this can create a problem with mobility. Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute states that a sling will keep the injured body parts in place and a person can still function. However, they will lose some ability to perform routine functions and activities.
Physical Therapy for Damaged Shoulders and Elbows
Physical therapy is another option for treating damaged elbows and shoulders. Most shoulder and elbow injuries take between 6 to 8 weeks to heal. A person should engage in physical therapy about 3 weeks to a month after their initial injury. Physical therapy helps an individual to regain mobility back in their arm and shoulder areas. There are many types of physical therapy exercises that can be used to help strengthen and regain mobility back into a person’s shoulders and elbow.
Medications for Severely Damaged Shoulders and Elbows
Sometimes people will need medications to heal their affected areas. Analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs and topical analgesics are commonly used to heal shoulder and elbow pain that is severe. Medications can be taken in the form of pills or applied as a cream to the affected area. People can also get steroid based injection shots to deal with the pain. Each of these different medical solutions are commonly used when a person has deal with severe shoulder pain.
Surgical Procedures for Shoulders and Elbows
Surgery is another option for people with severe shoulder or elbow injuries. People who have been involved within an auto accident or that have fallen from a great distance could use this remedy to have their shoulder pain corrected. This is not a common form of treatment. Doctors will usually recommend invasive surgical procedures only after all other methods of treatment have been exhausted. Each of these remedies have been proven to heal problems with shoulder and elbow injuries.
