Rotator Cuff Injury

Posted on May 10, 2017 by

Rotator cuff injury is one of the causes when you are dealing with shoulder pain. Tears in the rotator cuff can occur when there is a single injury or due to gradual onset of repetitive motions around the shoulder joint. Rotator cuff injury is when there are inflammation, tears or overuse of the muscles or tendons that make up the rotator cuff in the shoulders. They are important for motions such as rotating your arms inward (internal rotation of the arm at the shoulder joint) or outwards (external rotation of the arm at the shoulder joint).

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Some symptoms you may experience if you have injured your rotator cuff are pain, weakness, limited motion, and feelings of instability at the shoulders. There are many factors that contribute to an increased risk of developing injury to the rotator cuff; some factors are age, family history, occupation or sports that rely on repetitive prolonged movements of the shoulder girdle. If you believe your shoulder pain is associated with rotator cuff injury, it is always recommended to make an appointment with your family doctor to eliminate other common causes.

Image result for rotator cuff

As mentioned above, the best method to understand what your body is attempting to warn you is to visit your family doctor or a shoulder specialist to be properly diagnosed with rotator cuff injury. There are different ways for your doctor to check what is the cause of your shoulder pain. One method would be the physical and history exam which consists of applying different motions around the shoulder to know which movements makes it better or worse and what occupation or repetitive motions you have done leading to this gradual onset of shoulder pain. Other methods consist of x-rays and MRI to see what is occurring at your shoulder comparing with a healthy shoulder girdle.

There are a wide variety of treatments depending on the type of injury you were diagnosed with. If it is a mild condition, the most common treatment would be exercises that target the rotator cuff muscles aiming to provide stability and strengthen the shoulders. If the injury is more serious and critical, then surgery may be suggested. Depending on the type of injury, there are different kinds of operations to help with shoulder pain.