Your shoulder has an incredible range of motion, but this means that it is also very prone to injury. The shoulder can easily slip out of alignment by a few millimeters, become weak due to regular wear and tear, or become completely dislocated during a fall. The joint where the upper bone (humerus) of the arm meets the shoulder (scapula and acromion process) is called the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is the most vulnerable part of the shoulder and is where most shoulder injuries occur. To better understand what is happening inside your rotator cuff it is helpful to understand the different parts of the shoulder.
Rotator Cuff Facts:
The term “rotator cuff” refers to a group of four tendons that attach four shoulder muscles to the upper arm bone.
- About 6 million people in the U.S. seek medical care each year for shoulder problems.
- The shoulder joint has the widest range of motion of all joints in the body.
- Rotator cuff injuries are typically associated with motions that require repeated overhead motions
or forceful pulling motions. This is an injury that is very common in athletes, especially baseball
pitchers, football players, weightlifters, rugby players, volleyball players, swimmers, boxers, tennis
players, bowlers and cheerleaders. - Continual repetitive use of the injured rotator cuff will lead to a worse injury.
- 2-5% of the population will experience Adhesive Capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder), most for no apparent
reason. - Women and diabetics are common sufferers of Frozen Shoulder.
- Although the rotator cuff can tear suddenly as a result of a serious injury, most rotator cuff problems
develop over time. - The rotator cuff is a shallow ‘ball-and-socket’ joint where the humerus (upper arm) meets the
scapula (shoulder blade). - Deep Tissue Therapy can greatly reduce the time it takes to move through the 3 stages of Frozen
Shoulder. - Rotator cuff tears occur most frequently in men, ages 40-50, who do manual overhead work.
- The most common tendon torn in the rotator cuff is the supraspinatus tendon.
- A complete tear of the supraspinatus tendon will limit your ability to lift your arm at your side
(abduct).
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