Rotator Cuff Injuries

Your rotator cuff consists of four muscles in your shoulder that allows you to move your arm away from your body. These muscles have tendons, which connect them to the head of your upper arm bone or humerus. When a tear occurs in these muscles, you will experience extreme pain on motion. A rotator cuff tear is also extremely painful at night. If left untreated, it may result in arm weakness.

Walch et al first described the internal impingement as an intraarticular impingement of the rotator cuff in the abducted and externally rotated shoulder. With 90 degrees of both abduction and external rotation, the articular surface of the posterior superior rotator cuff becomes pinched between the labrum and the greater tuberosity.5 The authors separated the labral lesions from SLAP lesions which extended anteriorly to the biceps anchor at the supraglenoid tubercle, concluding that internal impingement may be responsible for a subset of patients with isolated posterior SLAP tears.5

Four muscles that are attached to the shoulder blade make up the rotator cuff. These muscles work together to ensure the shoulder moves and rotates properly. If the muscles become inflamed or torn, you will struggle

Usually when this happens the labrum does not heal back in the right location. Symptoms of a labrum tear depend on where the tear is located. Whether the joint continues to be shaky is dependent upon many different key factors (A Patients Guide to Shoulder Instability). As for a labrum tear in the shoulder, symptoms mainly include an aching sensation in the shoulder joint, pain with specific activities, and catching of the shoulder with movement. Also, falling on an outstretched arm, a direct blow to the shoulder, or a sudden pull, such as when trying to lift a heavy object may also cause a labrum tear.

The rotator cuff refers to the group of muscles and tendons in your shoulder that connects your shoulder blade to your upper arm.

Damage to any of these muscles and the ligaments that attach these muscles to the bone can occur because of multiple different reasons. These reasons could be an acute injury, chronic overuse, or gradual aging. The damage can cause a lot of pain and disability with decreased range of motion and use of the shoulder. The shoulder is made up of a ball and socket joint that allows the arm to move in many different directions. When the rotator cuff is hurt a lot of different things could occur things including; Pain and spasm limit the range of motion of the shoulder, Fluid build up within the joint due to inflammation limits movement, Arthritis and calcium deposits that form over time which could limit the range of motion. The main thing that causes rotator cuff injuries is injuries to muscle tendon units which are called strains, and these are classified by the amount of damage to the muscle or tendon fibers. There are a few grades of this injury which include grade 1 which involves stretching of the fibers without tearing. Grade 2 involves injuries of partial muscle or tendon tearing, while grade 3 which is the worse is a complete tear of a muscle or tendon. An acute rotator cuff tear can happen from a sudden raising of the arm against resistance or example like when your falling and you put your arm out to try and catch yourself, this type of injury requires a significant

There are many more terms and concepts in throwing a baseball then the wind-up, cocking, acceleration, and the follow through. There is also the stride, your pelvis, rotation, deceleration, force, gravity, resistance and speed. (Maranowski). Within the shoulder, there are three major bones used. They are the clavicle, humerus, and the scapula. Another major component of the shoulder while throwing is the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is made up of four small muscles which are the subscapularis, supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and the teres minor. The main responsibility of the rotator cuff is for the stability of the shoulder joint. It holds the humeral head in the glenoid socket during early abduction while throwing. (" biomechanics of," ).

RCT is a common disease. According to general population surveys, the prevalence of rotator cuff tear is 25 % in those older than 50 years of age and 20 % in those older than 20 years of age (1). The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles and their tendons supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis (2). These muscles connect the upper-arm bone, or humerus, to the shoulder blade. The important job of the rotator cuff is to keep the shoulder joint stable. RCT can be caused by degenerative changes, repetitive micro-traumas, severe traumatic injuries, and secondary dysfunctions. Falling on an outstretched hand, unexpected force when pushing or pulling or during shoulder dislocation can cause traumatic injury to the rotator cuff.

Millions of people across the United States suffer from either Bursitis or a rotator cuff injury every year. Although sometimes the two can be misconceived, they are very different in all actuality. Bursitis is the inflammation or irritation of the bursa. A bursa is a fluid-filled sac used as a bumper near the joints to reduce friction. There are many bursae located in your body, some of which being in the hip, shoulder, wrist, and elbow. However, a rotator cuff injury only affects the shoulder area of the body. The “rotator cuff” is composed of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor muscles. There is only one main way to be diagnosed with Bursitis and it happens when you overuse a joint in sports or on the job. You can put the bursa under pressure for a long time, thus causing the bursa to become inflamed.

Rotator cuff surgery affects the function of the shoulder. It is very painful injury and there is loss in strength. If the rotator cuff tendon becomes inflamed or is partially torn, it can be painful and will most limit shoulder movement. This injury occurs from a sudden impact, like falling on your arm which might accrue in motocross, snowboarding, playing football, and similar collision sport. Activities that might cause overload to the tendon have a possibility to tear the tendon. Other ways a rotator cuff can tears is from old age and over use over the years.

A rotator cuff tear is an injury that plagues much of the elderly population as well as a variety of athletes. The etiology of a rotator cuff tear is primarily due to the degeneration of the tendons or more specifically the thinning and disorientation of collagen fibers and degradation of various cells and tissues. 1 Rotator cuff tears are more likely to occur with age. Rotator cuff tears may occur due to direct trauma such as falling or shearing linked to a simple throwing or rotation of the arm and shoulder.2

Your rotator cuff is where your shoulder is attached to your body via tendons. A rotator cuff injury is when those tendons are pulled away from the head of your humerus or upper arm bone.

*insert article *attachedBesides being able to see the inside of a shoulder, doctors use different physical tests to evaluate the shoulder in order to determine what type of injury and how severe an injury may be. One such test was recently developed by Dr. Carl J. Basamania at the Womack Army Medical center in Fort Bragg, N.C. The test was developed to evaluate shoulder instability in a patient. During the test the Dr. or examiner stands next to the patient who is to lay flat on his/her back. The hand of the examined should is held firmly by the examiner. The examiner then pushes against the clavicle to stabilize th scapula, while they also gently hold the pectoral muscle with their thumb in order to be able to assess relaxation. The examiner then rotates the arm form neutral to full external rotation. If the patient has AIGHL incompetence there is a lack of tightening as the arm reaches full external rotation. The test has appeared to be highly accurate and may be of value to Dr.'s and surgeons alike. After doctors have determined what type and what degree of injury a patient has sustained using various tests it is on to the next step, rehabilitation.

Non-traumatic tendinopathies usually have an insidious onset of localized pain over the anterosuperior shoulder, during the arc range of 60 – 120 degrees. However, as the disorder progresses, it causes pain at night, interfering with the sleep pattern of patients. The sequale following inadequate sleep is vast, as it can disrupt the homeostasis of the body. Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy might cause only a mobility restriction but its impact on the individual as a whole is not as minor as it seems. The disorder initially starts as an inflammatory tendinitis causing pain within the arc range, however as it progresses, it results in the development of secondary adhesive capsulitis. The capsulitis greatly restricts the global movement of the shoulder,

Now, in saying all of this, does this mean that you didn’t actually tear your rotator cuff, or that your spine is misaligned? You come in for a massage because you are feeling tight, is that an illusion?