“Articulations” That Indicate A Rotator Cuff Injury

A rotator cuff injury can be a tricky one.

Not because it doesn’t hurt but because the pain is very scatter. I remember having one and I wasn’t sure if it hurt in the back, front or side of the shoulder. I knew there was something inside the articulation creating a discomfort but I didn’t know exactly what it was.

Another tricky aspect about a rotator cuff injury is that pain might be mild for a long time until it becomes chronic. Like a molar cavity growing slowly but steady finally burst in pain. My advice: as soon as you feel a strange pinching sensation around the connection of the shoulder, run to your orthopedic doctor and let him check it.

Now, all this trickiness I have been talking about, comes from the fact that the shoulder has been designed for a wide range

of mobility. Therefore, it has many attachments that may affect it.

As Frederick Hatfield stated in his ISSA training manual, “The bony arrangement of the shoulder joint consist of a shallow socket (glenoid fossa) into which the spherical head of the humerus fits. Less than half of the humerus is in the socket at any one time and the bony arrangement is therefore weak. Because it is a ball and socket type joint, the shoulder joint is a multiaxial joint that allows the following movements: flexion, extension/hyperextension; transverse (horizontal) adduction and abduction; abduction and adduction; medial (inward) and lateral (outward) rotation and circumduction.”

By definition, the rotator cuff is a system of muscles and tendons that support this bony structure. Hence, the only articulation compromised on a rotator cuff injury is the shoulder. However, you might get confused because of the pain’s behavior. To clarify a 100% the topic, when you have a rotator cuff injury, you damage the system that helps the shoulder articulation move.

Keeping with the anatomy of the pain, the rotator cuff is supported by four main muscles: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, Teres minor and Subscapularis muscles plus the tendons attached to them. When you feel pain, it might come from the whole system or just one tendon. Rotator cuff tears are pretty familiar among

athletes and are basically the main shoulder joint trauma.

The gravity of the injury will determine the procedures you must follow to recover it. They could go from simple exercises to minimally invasive surgery… But that’s a whole new topic.

Surgeon’s Advice | Leon Mead MD Orthopedic Doctor | 730 Goodlette Road North, Suite 201  Naples Florida 34102 | Phone: (239) 262-1119