Causes and Treatments of Rotator Cuff Injury

What is an injury to the rotator cuff?

An injury of the rotator cuff is a stretch or tear of a group of tendons and muscles that support
the shoulder and help it move.

How does it occur?

An injury to the rotator cuff can be inflicted by:

• Poor posture of the head and shoulders, especially in elderly people.
• useing the arm to cushion a fall
• falling on the arm
• lifting a heavy object
• normal wear and tear (usually in elderly people).
• lifting the arm above your head repeatedly. Usually when practicing a sport such as swimming,
baseball (especially pitchers), football and tennis, which gradually damaging the tendon.
• Doing labour which consists of repeatedly lifting your arm over your head (such as painting,
plastering walls, sweeping leaves or even cleaning the house).

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of a tear in the rotator cuff are:

• A sore arm and shoulder.
• A weak shoulder.
• Sensitivity in the shoulder.
• A loss of movement in the shoulder, especially when the arm is lifted.

How is it diagnosed?

Your doctor will perform a physical exam of the shoulder to see if you have pain, tenderness and loss of movement. He will also inquire whether the pain occurred suddenly or gradually. It is possible that he will recommend an X-ray to eliminate the possibility that a bone was fractured.

Depending on the results, the doctor can decide on further analysis or procedures, either immediately or later, such as:

• A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), giving an image of the shoulder and the surrounding
structure through radio waves (sometimes simple ultrasound test will suffice.
• artrograma, which is an X-ray or MRI that is taken after a dye injection into the joint to
highlight the soft tissue structures
• an arthroscopy, which is a surgical procedure in which a small camera is inserted into the
shoulder joint so that the doctor can examine the rotator cuff.

How is it treated?

A shoulder tendon can be inflamed, partially torn or completely torn. Treatment will depend on the severity of the injury and patient discomfort or disability. Note that If the tear is small, it can heal itself

The treatment plan may include:

•Learning to improve your posture.
• Resting the shoulder, or avoiding any activity that causes intense pain.
• Icing the shoulder at least once per day, and preferably two or three times per day.
• Doing stretching exercises to prevent stiffness in the shoulder.
• Doing physiotherapy in order to stretch the shoulder and strenghten the rotator cuff.
• Taking anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Taking steroid shots.
• Surgery.

How long will it take to recover?

The complete recovery of the injury depends on the type of tear and treatment. Usually, if the tear is minor or the tendon is only inflamed a period of 4 to 6 weeks should be expected.

However, each person recovers from his injury at a different pace. The return to the level of activity previously undertaken will depend on the recovery of the shoulder and not on how many days or weeks have passed since the injury occurred.

In general, the longer you wait before starting treatment, the longer it will take to heal.
The goal of rehabilitation is to allow the patient to regain his normal activities as soon as possible.

Normal activities can be resumed safely when:

• The injured shoulder can be moved in all directions without pain.
• The injured shoulder has regained its normal strength, compared with the other shoulder.

What can be done to prevent the injury recur?

The best way to prevent injury or to prevent recurring injuries is by strengthening the muscles of the rotator cuff (Rotator Cuff strengthening exercises).

What are the best exercises?

• Start by reading my previous posts and check regularly for more information and updates.