Torn Rotator Cuff

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that help to stabilize the shoulder. One or more tendons may become inflamed due to overuse, age, falling or collision. Sports requiring extensive, repeated use of the shoulder have more injuries to the rotator cuff. The injury most often happens to pitchers and quarterbacks because they throw the ball countless times not only during the game but during the week as well.

Signs
Somebody who has an injury to their rotator cuff will likely complain of pain in their deltoid muscle and outer shoulder, especially when the arm is raised in front of them, or out to the side. The shoulder may feel weak, especially when trying to lift the arm into a horizontal position. The athlete may hear a clicking or popping sound in their shoulder when it moves.

How is it diagnosed?
Pain or weakness on an inward or outward rotation of the arm may indicate a torn rotator cuff. There may also be pain when the arm is lowered to the side after the shoulder is moved back and the arm is raised. The problem is that with torn rotator cuffs, you can't look at an X-ray and tell. The shoulder may appear normal. In order to fully detect a torn rotator cuff, an MRI needs to be done, but even that does not detect partial tears.

Treatment
If bad enough, Tommy John surgery may need to be done. However, most times, it is possible to get away with putting heat and ice on teh shoulder and wearing it in a sling for a few days. Other treatments may be done like electrical stimulation, ultrasound or cortisone shots.

On a semi-side note, Tommy John surgery is named after the baseball pitcher, Tommy John, who was the first pitcher to have surgery done to repair his torn rotator cuff. He had 288 victories, the most for any pitcher not selected for the Hall of Fame. He has the 7th highest number of wins for any left-handed pitcher. He made his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians in 1963 and went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, Oakland Athletics and back to the Yankees before he retired in 1989. He had surgery on September 25, 1974.