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What Are The Symptoms Of A Torn Rotator Cuff And The Options For Treatment?

By Nick Browning

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 24Feb2012
Word count: 1172
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Rotator cuff tear symptoms can vary depending on the severity of the original shoulder injury, but usually show up as shoulder pain and general weakness of the shoulder and arm. The symptoms differ from one individual to another with a few individuals having very little or absolutely no discomfort and no loss of flexibility and movement, whilst other people can experience debilitating pain, making even the most basic movement impossible.

Almost all people will have some pain and restricted movement although much depends on what is expected of the joint post-injury. For example; lots of older individuals can develop rotator cuff tears that cause them no problemsand are able to have completely pain free,normal lives even with a torn rotator cuff. This type of case is described as being asymptomatic - showing no symptoms.

How much pain there is really depends on different things. How bad the tear is, how old the patient is, how much shoulder movement is used in everyday activity.

Someone who is a plasterer, for example, would need their shoulder to not only be mobile but would need it to be able to cope with the stresses of their work. Compare this to an elderly person who has little or no physical exercise and you quickly see that any symptoms could be very different in each case.

The pain of a rotator cuff tear is usually felt at the back and top of your shoulder joint with the pain travelling along the arm, sometimes as far as the fingers.

It will be much worse whenever you move your arm. Reaching out to the side, overhead or behind you will make things much worse. Reaching for objects, getting dressed and even driving may all become extremely painful.

The onset of pain can either be chronic or acute depending on how the injury was arrived at.

If the rotator cuff tear comes about through wear and tear on the joint it will have a gradual start to the pain. This could be typical of anyone whose work results in a lot of overhead working where constantly raising the arm causes gradual wear and tear to tendons of the rotator cuff. This is called a chronic tear to the rotator cuff. Any pain resulting from this type of injury will begin slowly, getting worse in time as you carry on using the injured arm, causing more wear and tear to the tendons of the rotator cuff.

A rotator cuff tear described as acute could happen because of a fall, perhaps onto an out-stretched hand or direct onto the shoulder. This can result in a sudden injury to the rotator cuff.

Torn Rotator Cuff Treatment Options

A torn rotator cuff is usually treated without surgery or conservatively. At first, treatment would involve the R.I.C.E regime of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. It is vital that you rest your arm to let the swelling to go down. This is important to help manage any pain. A Course of NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) will help in the early stages of recovery.

Physical therapy exercises to strengthen and stabilize the rotator cuff muscles will be next, beginning with low weight / resistance exercises and then gradually increasing in intensity as the muscles grow stronger. None of the exercises should cause any pain as this would suggest that more damage is being caused to the shoulder.

If physical therapy is unsuccessful, corrective surgery is possible to fix the torn rotator cuff but this tends to only be used when conservative treatment has failed to work.

Surgery may be offered early on if someone uses their shoulder a great deal in work or sports or for young people who have suffered a severe tear although most patients report significant reductions in their pain levels and better mobility through a course of physiotherapy for rotator cuffs.

If you liked this article and would like to find out more about torn rotator cuff symptoms and treatment options visit the shoulder pain guide at http://www.shoulder-pain-guide.com

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