Is Your Shoulder Pain a Rotator Cuff Tear?

Do you often feel pain when reaching out or when trying to comb your hair? The pain—and sometimes stiffness or weakness—could be caused by a problem with your rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a group of small muscles inside your shoulder joint that keep the upper arm bone and shoulder together, enabling smooth movement, especially when lifting or rotating your arm.

These muscles work together with tendons, and when specialists refer to rotator cuff tears, they’re actually referring to tears in the tendons, not the muscles themselves.

These tendons can become damaged due to repetitive movements, injuries, poor blood supply to the area, bone spurs, or even aging.

If you experience pain and limited mobility in the shoulder, read on as Dr. Thomas Kane III explains when your symptoms could indicate a rotator cuff tear—and how these tears are treated.

Signs you may have a rotator cuff tear

Tears in the rotator cuff are typically of two kinds: partial tears, when the tendons are damaged but still attached to the bone, or full-thickness tears, when the tendon is completely torn and pulled away.

If your tear is partial, you may experience mild to moderate pain, some weakness in the shoulder, a limited range of motion, and pain that worsens at night.

With a full-thickness tear, the symptoms are more severe: the pain is intense, and due to muscle weakness, you may lose the ability to lift your arm past a certain point. A crackling or popping sensation may also be present.

How is a rotator cuff tear treated?

Depending on the severity of the tear, treatments vary from conservative to more invasive options. If your pain is mild to moderate and you haven’t lost significant shoulder function, rest, physical therapy, pain medications, and corticosteroid injections may be enough to manage symptoms while your body heals on its own.

However, if the pain is intense and you’ve lost the ability to use your arm normally, minimally invasive surgery may be recommended.

Dr. Kane uses shoulder arthroscopy, a minimally invasive technique that relies on a small camera and tiny incisions to locate and repair the torn tendon. This approach typically results in less pain after surgery, smaller scars, a lower risk of infection, and a faster recovery compared to traditional open surgery.  If only a partial tear is present, arthroscopic surgery may only involve a shaving of the bone above the tendons to relieve pain and allow the tendons to heal themselves.

Learn more about what’s causing your pain

If you are experiencing shoulder pain, experience a popping noise, or notice muscle weakness with reaching or lifting, contact us to schedule an appointment at our office in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Kane will examine your shoulder and recommend the best course of action for healing.

When caught early, rotator cuff tears can be treated more effectively—preventing further damage and helping you regain shoulder function sooner.