You May Have Torn Your Rotator Cuff If You Are Feeling Shoulder Pain

If you feel pain when moving your arm out or over your head, or if you suddenly have a limited mobility, it's possible that you tore the tendons in your shoulder known as the Rotator Cuff.

The shoulder is the most complex joint in the human body. It is designed to be able to rotate in all directions. We take this joint for granted and I wish I understood it better previously. With the right knowledge I could have avoided damaging mine.

Now that I know so much more, due to my own injury, I want to help you understand what you are experiencing. And if I catch you in time, this may even help you avoid future injury.

Most of us are never taught how to protect our shoulders from damage as we get older. And if you work out at the gym, you may not have received proper guidance to protect your shoulder cuff. No one ever told me how we tend to put wear-and-tear on this important joint that we take for granted.

I’m in my 60’s now, but I never think twice about my age. And I have always done things as if I were still in my 30’s, never giving any thought to the fact that my body is getting older and maybe, just maybe, I should change the way I do things. It’s not something people want to be told. And it’s the last thing anyone would do if they still feel strong and still want to live life to the fullest. I know, because I’m like that.

But I wish I had found an article like this a few years ago. Maybe it might have woken me up and I might have avoided a drastic mistake. So here it is, I'm creating it now for you to read and save your shoulder.

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About a year ago I started having aches and pains. I ignored them because I thought that it’s just part of aging. My mother had arthritis and so I thought that may be what’s going on for me. So I accepted it and lived with it.

Specifically, I had pain in my right shoulder when I tried to reach to wash my back when showering. I was always able to get pretty much back there all my life.

I was also still able to lift things. But when I tried to lift heavy boxes, for example, over my head, then I had to quickly shift the weight to my left hand or else drop the box. This came along with pain. But as I said, I thought it was arthritis and I ignored it.

Does this sound like you? Are you accepting the fact that you are getting older and you just decided to go with the flow and ignore your aches and pains?

Well, you may be right. But you’re not a doctor and you really don’t know. A friend of mine finally told me to tell my doctor about it. My doctor recommended an orthopedist who sent me for an MRI.

The MRI revealed that I had torn three tendons in the rotator cuff of my right shoulder. The rotator cuff is a combination of muscles and tendons that control shoulder movement and also maintain the stability of the shoulder.

I had learned a lot since then. But rather than go into detail on anatomy, which you can learn from many good resources, I’d rather teach you what I learned by telling you my story. Hopefully this knowledge will help you avoid the same damage.

Since I let a year go by, my orthopedist said that surgery may not be totally successful any more. In addition, I was still able to do things anyway. I could lift things, do house chores, just about anything. But when I made the wrong move I felt the pain.

My doctor explained that people who are immobilized by a rotator cuff tear are the ones that have no choice but to have surgery. But in my case surgery is the last option to recommend.

A brief explanation as to why waiting a year is not a good idea. One of my tendons was a full-thickness tear. It retracted like a rubber band becoming limp. So the muscle of that tendon was no longer used and it atrophies over time. What this means is that it becomes more like fatty tissue.

When a surgeon tries to suture a healthy tendon, it holds. But when they try to suture through fatty tissue, it just tears through. An easy way to understand what I mean is to think about eating a steak. You can't run your fork through the meat, but if you try to pull your fork through the fatty part, it slides right through.

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I was curious to know why some friends who had the same problem complained about excruciating pain, or lost their ability to use their shoulder.

My doctor explained that in my case my muscles were well balanced and compensated for the torn tendons. That came from a lifetime of proper exercise. You may laugh at me, but ever since High School I kept doing those push ups that we had to do in gym class. Maybe that made the difference.

Nevertheless, I still hurt myself. How? I don’t know for sure. But I have always done extreme things that maybe I should have stopped doing as I got older. I like to do carpentry around the house, and I tend to get involved with moving heavy objects. Even lifting them above my head to place on racks high near the ceiling in the garage.

Oops. That’s it! When I had a recent discussion with my new orthopedist, who I went to for a second opinion, I asked her what I could do to get through the rest of my life if I don’t have the surgery. Remember what I said earlier, the surgery might not work that well in my case. And in addition to that, it’s not recommended when one still has all their functionality as I do.

Her answer was, “Avoid lifting things above your shoulders.”

I ask why and she explained that when we lift things up as far as our shoulder level we are using different muscles. But when we go higher than that we are using our rotator cuff.

Wow! What an enlightening piece of information that was. They should teach us those things in High School to take with us throughout life! (Just like the three R's and the multiplication table).

Anyway, So I learned that if I just conduct myself in such as way that I avoid lifting heavy objects above my head, I may be okay. Well, my doctor continued to explain that there are no guarantees. It may get worse. Two of my tendons only have partial tears and they are still functional to some degree. But if I abuse my shoulder it can get worse. The one that has the full thickness tear is already non-functional.

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Now you are thinking what a fool I am for not running to get the surgery. These choices are those you need to make with your own doctor.

Don't make any decisions based on what I'm explaining here. I'm just sharing what I had learned. Hopefully you are reading this before you even hurt yourself.

I explained above two reasons why my doctor is against surgery at this time. To be a little clearer...

(1) I’m functioning and I have mobility.

And (2) it’s been a year and surgery may not be successful since the major torn tendon retracted and atrophied.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, although maybe I shouldn’t say that. But I feel like my old self except for a little pain when I make the wrong moves.

Many people have rotator cuff tears without even knowing it. Maybe they are like me, thinking that they are just getting older and expecting discomfort. And therefore not getting it checked out. In a study of cadavers, it was found that 32% of them had partial-thickness tears and a 19% had full-thickness tears. (Source: answers.com, see resources below).

I didn’t mention that my doctor had been sending me for Physical Therapy. They taught me various exercises to retrain the body to function with the torn tendons. Basically teaching the muscles to handle the stress and keep the shoulder in proper position.

I’m not going to go into detail on that, either, as that is not the subject of this article. I already made my point and I’m done. If you want to know Physical Therapy techniques, there are good resources available with a Google search. But most of all, I can’t stress enough, I leave you with two thoughts…

1. Be kind to your rotator cuff.
2. Go see a doctor if you feel something is not quite right.

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• Mayo Clinic: Rotator Cuff Injury

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rotator-cuff-injury/DS00192

• Answers.com: Rotator Cuff Tear

http://www.answers.com/topic/rotator-cuff-tear

Copyright © 2012 Glenn Stok

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