Rotator Cuff Tendon Tears - Definition, Causes and Diagnosis from The Everett Clinic
Rotator cuff tendon tears are a common cause of shoulder pain and affect millions of people each year. Most people associate tendon tears with sports injuries or injuries in young people, but the majority of rotator cuff tendon tears occur gradually with age, as people perform the same overhead tasks again and again. In fact, some studies have shown that 30% of people over the age of 70 years have a rotator cuff tendon tear. Luckily, not all rotator cuff tears are painful.
There are four rotator cuff tendons that surround the ball of the shoulder joint. Their primary purpose is to control shoulder rotation, although they also keep the ball of the joint centered in the shallow cup of the joint. The shoulder joint is much more flexible than the other joints in your body, such as your hips and knees. So while other joints can depend on the shape of the bones in order to function properly, the shoulder depends on the muscles and tendons in order to work correctly and maintain flexibility. As a result, rotator cuff tendons are more prone to injury than the tendons in your other joints.
The most commonly torn rotator cuff tendon is the supraspinatus tendon, which is the tendon on the top of the shoulder joint. When this tendon tears, it can cause pain in the front and on the side of the shoulder. The pain often spreads down the arm, and it can even feel like the middle of the arm is injured, rather than the shoulder. When the supraspinatus tendon is torn, reaching overhead, to the side, and behind the back becomes painful, because such positions put stress on the injury. The pain can be severe enough to wake patients up at night and keep them from sleeping on their shoulders. Patients can also experience different levels of weakness in the injured shoulder, depending on the size of the tear in the rotator cuff tendon. If it is a small tear, the patient may not experience any weakness. If it is a medium tear, the patient may experience weakness when holding something heavy away from his body, or putting his arm over his head. If it is a large tear, the patient will not be able to raise the affected arm, or even use it to eat.
To diagnose a rotator cuff tendon tear, your doctor will need to perform a complete exam of your shoulder. An X-ray will be needed to make sure that the joint is normal, and to look for bone spurs or calcium deposits in the tendon. An MRI may be needed if the diagnosis cannot be made by exam and X ray alone.
There are four rotator cuff tendons that surround the ball of the shoulder joint. Their primary purpose is to control shoulder rotation, although they also keep the ball of the joint centered in the shallow cup of the joint. The shoulder joint is much more flexible than the other joints in your body, such as your hips and knees. So while other joints can depend on the shape of the bones in order to function properly, the shoulder depends on the muscles and tendons in order to work correctly and maintain flexibility. As a result, rotator cuff tendons are more prone to injury than the tendons in your other joints.
The most commonly torn rotator cuff tendon is the supraspinatus tendon, which is the tendon on the top of the shoulder joint. When this tendon tears, it can cause pain in the front and on the side of the shoulder. The pain often spreads down the arm, and it can even feel like the middle of the arm is injured, rather than the shoulder. When the supraspinatus tendon is torn, reaching overhead, to the side, and behind the back becomes painful, because such positions put stress on the injury. The pain can be severe enough to wake patients up at night and keep them from sleeping on their shoulders. Patients can also experience different levels of weakness in the injured shoulder, depending on the size of the tear in the rotator cuff tendon. If it is a small tear, the patient may not experience any weakness. If it is a medium tear, the patient may experience weakness when holding something heavy away from his body, or putting his arm over his head. If it is a large tear, the patient will not be able to raise the affected arm, or even use it to eat.
To diagnose a rotator cuff tendon tear, your doctor will need to perform a complete exam of your shoulder. An X-ray will be needed to make sure that the joint is normal, and to look for bone spurs or calcium deposits in the tendon. An MRI may be needed if the diagnosis cannot be made by exam and X ray alone.