What is Rotator Cuff Syndrome?

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles in the human shoulder that is comprised of the suprapinatus, subscapularis, infraspinatus, and teres minor muscles. Injury or damage to any of these muscles is generally considered rotator cuff syndrome. Tendons and bones typically are parts of the entire rotator cuff as well. Symptoms of rotator cuff syndrome include localized pain and clicking in the shoulder. Solutions to the problem range from intensive therapy to invasive surgery.

Rotator cuff syndrome is the root cause of several other shoulder disorders, including instability, degeneration, bone spurs, and frozen shoulder. The rotator cuff allows for the wide range of movement of the shoulder such as reaching overhead. Of all the joints of the body, the shoulder is the most mobile.

The first symptom that most people complain about in rotator cuff syndrome is pain. This pain may arise when a person performs routine actions, such as flipping on a light switch, putting on a seat belt, or washing his or her hair. The pain is usually felt on the top front of the shoulder.

A second complaint generally is clicking in the shoulder. This clicking is caused usually when there is a loss of elasticity of the muscles that hold the shoulder joint inside of the shoulder socket. The clicking occurs because the joint has gotten off track. Left untreated, this can lead to the wearing away of the joint surfaces, which is also called degeneration. Degeneration can also cause arthritis in the shoulder.

Arthritis in any joint can be quite painful and uncomfortable. It is the body's natural reaction to attempt to fix any anomalies of the organs. The joint that is affected by arthritis is unstable and the body will try to fix it and create stability. This creation of stability will cause an attempted fusion of the joint, which could create another painful condition called bone spurs.

Rotator cuff syndrome is treatable but is also an area open to misdiagnosis. The first step to treating the syndrome usually is physical therapy, which typically lasts for six weeks. Therapy usually consists of moving the joint and performing exercise to strengthen it. At the end of therapy, the patient typically is reassessed to see if there is any improvement.

In the absence of any improvement, the next step would be a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test. An MRI is an attempt to see any abnormalities in the shoulder. At this point, the physician will usually recommend either cortisone injections to the shoulder or surgery. If surgery is elected, the recovery time can be great — it can last for months, and, in some cases, even years.