Rotator Cuff Tears: The Impact of Early Detection and Therapy

August 14th, 2012 by Ellie Lois

Rotator cuff injuries can be annoying at times and can be severely painful. Most often, rotator cuff tears are not easily detected. It has been found out, during autopsies that seventy percent of 80 year olds have the tear. About thirty percent of those under 70 years of age also have the same rotator cuff injuries. As the age becomes older, the body becomes weaker and susceptible to injuries. One can do many abrupt movements. In the process of a great deal of movement, harm can be incurred.

We cannot run away from rotator cuff tears! We can still be prone to it whatever are ages are.

Many people get rotator cuff tears from falling or having an accident like a car accident for example. Many rough and tough football players end up with rotator cuff problems. And even more from playing golf. You don’t have to fall down the stairs to get a shoulder injury. My rotator cuff tear happened just by someone pulling my arm to go somewhere.

If a person can’t hold their arm up over their head, or it hurts in that spot laying down in the bed, hears popping noises, or it feels like something is stuck, stiff, or anything close to this, it could be a rotator cuff tear. Also, a person can have pain all the way down to the elbow. So, do not ignore these signs. In my latest injury the only pain I had was felt when reaching across my body to the other side, or when putting my arm through a shirt sleeve. It wasn’t a horrible pain, but if not taken care of, it would get worse like all rotator cuff injuries.

The best remedy for a tear is to start physical therapy right away. I have found that I can now do the exercises myself without going to a therapist. There is plenty of information available on different therapies that can be used.

However it’s best to visit a doctor before you do anything. An MRI, ultrasound, Arthrogram, or diagnostic arthroscopy diagnoses a rotator cuff tear. During the physical exam, the doctor will look at the range of motion of the shoulder and sometimes inject a pain killer to see how movement is after the pain subsides to see how bad the problem really is. This will help to see if the cuff is pinched, a slight tear or a full tear.

The sooner a person has the rotator cuff tear checked out, the sooner there is help to heal as it will take months depending if there has to be surgery. Surgery is for full tears mostly and is rare. A person usually will undergo physical therapy for a while to do exercises and take anti-inflammatory medicines to help with the swelling.

For more information on Rotator Cuff Tears, visit Fix Rotator Cuff Injury.