ROTATOR CUFF TEAR

The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, capable of a wide range of motions important across dozens of sports. Unfortunately, being the most mobile joint also means being unstable. Balancing stability in the shoulder is all about muscle control, and this control comes from the rotator cuff. This group of muscles takes on a lot of stress, which is what makes a rotator cuff tear the most common cause of shoulder pain and disability.

The rotator cuff is made up of four different muscles: Subscapularis (internal rotator), Teres Minor (external rotator), Supraspinatus (external rotator) and Infraspinatus (external rotator). Whenever you raise up your arm away from your body, the rotator cuff muscles work to stabilize the ball and socket joint of the shoulder. With this movement in mind, it’s clear that overhead athletes ask a lot of their rotator cuff.

We see a lot of rotator cuff tears in our clientele, some from overuse and others from trauma. Athletes involved in sports like baseball, swimming, tennis, golf, and basketball put regular stress on their rotator cuff muscles. These groups are more susceptible to developing overuse injuries through repetitive microtraumas.

Athletes involved in collision sports are at risk of experiencing a rotator cuff tear from.