Rotator Cuff Injuries

Rotator Cuff Injuries

The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles, the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and the teres minor. These muscles helps to lift your shoulder up over your head and also rotate it toward and away from your body. Unfortunately, it is also a group of muscles that is frequently injured by tears, tendonitis, impingement, bursitis, and strains. The major muscle that is usually involved is the supraspinatus muscle. Rotator Cuff Injuries are usually broken up into the following categories.

Rotator Cuff Tendonitis usually occurs in people 30-80 years of age, and the weakness in the shoulder is only mild to moderate. Rotator cuff tendonitis, also knows as " shoulder bursitis" or "impingement syndrome" occurs when the rotator cuff gets irritated on the undersurface of the acromion. The reason this begins is the source of some debates. Some physicians say people are born with a "hooked" acromion that will predispose them to this problem. Others have rotator cuff weakness that causes the humerus to ride up and pinch the cuff. This means that the bursa, a water-balloon type structure that acts as a cushion between the rotator cuff and acromion/humerus, gets inflamed.

Rotator Cuff Tear occurs usually in people who have had tendonitis for a while in the rotator cuff. It gets so bad that it wears a hole through the rotator cuff tendon and it starts to experience more weakness. It can also happen in someone who tries to lift something too heavy and feels a pop in the shoulder. Since the tendon is what connects the rotator cuff muscle to your humerus bone, when the tendon is torn, you have weakness in the shoulder. Usually these tears occur in people who have had shoulder pain for some time called a "chronic rotator cuff tear". This is, by far, the most common type of rotator cuff tear. However, tears sometimes happen in people who do not have a history of shoulder problems. These people try to lift something that is too heavy and feel a pop in their shoulder; usually with immediate pain this is called an "acute rotator cuff tear".

Rotator cuff tears usually cause pain, primarily on top and in the front of your shoulder. Sometimes you can have pain at the side of your shoulder. Usually it is worse with any overhead activity such as, reaching up above the level of your shoulder. Next it causes weakness, moderate to severe weakness, especially worse with overhead activity. This weakness is worse than in those people with simple rotator cuff tendonitis. Often patients complain of inability to put dishes up in the cupboards. Some patients with tears cannot lift their arm up to do their hair or scratch their head. After that it causes stiffness, many patients will experience stiffness in the shoulder. This happens because it either hurts to move the shoulder, or you simply cannot move it because you are too weak. This stiffness can be progressive, meaning that it can get worse with time. In most cases, the stiffness and loss of motion alone can be the biggest problem! Sometimes the bursitis that occurs with rotator cuff tears can cause a mild popping or crackling sensation