Rotator Cuff (SIITS MM)

What is Rotator Cuff (SIITS MM)?

Rotator Cuff Sprain and Strain Injuries + Rotator Cuff Tear

What is the Rotator Cuff?

The shoulder joint is a ball and socket joint, with a shallow socket to allow for maximal range of motion. There is a group of four muscles (Subscapularis, Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus and Teres Minor) that surround the shoulder joint called the Rotator Cuff which work to stabilize the joint. The cuff muscles and their tendons, coupled with the unique anatomy of the Shoulder Joint, make it the most mobile joint of the whole body. Rotator cuff muscles and tendons are deep muscles that are crucial in providing fine tuning movements of the shoulder. They also play an important role in lifting and rotating the shoulder.

The rotator cuff is closely linked with the ligaments that attach the humeral head (ball) to the glenoid fossa (socket). This close interaction with tendons and the bone places significant stress on the muscles, making it prone to injury. Most often injury can come in the form of a rotator cuff tear, sprain/strain or chronic tendinopathy. It is not uncommon for these injuries to be related to one another.

Rotator cuff injuries are the most common injury that is responsible for shoulder pain and there are various factors that can contribute to this. Age plays a significant part in rotator cuff injuries due to natural degeneration of the muscles that occur over time.

Rotator Cuff Tear:

A rotator cuff tear is typically caused by overstretching or a rapid twisting of the joint either suddenly or as a result of repetitive microtrauma (typically seen in overarm sports such as swimming and cricket) resulting in tearing of the muscle fibres. A rotator cuff tear can range from a partial tear to a full thickness tear. Often it will progress in this fashion, particularly in the case of repetitive microtrauma’s, whereby the body is unable to recover fast enough to cope with the repetitive degeneration of the muscle fibres. Rotator cuff tears typically present as shoulder pain, either sudden or gradually progressing depending on the mode of injury, as well as inflammation, pain that radiates down the arm, pain with lying on the side of the body and/or a sharp pain associated with certain movements.

Rotator Cuff Sprain/Strain:

A sprain refers to an injury of a ligament while a strain refers to an injury of a muscle. Sprains and strains typically occur following a forceful or rapid twisting, bending or straightening movement which causes overstretching and possible tearing of the ligament or muscle fibres.

Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy:

The cause of rotator cuff tendinopathy is largely unknown but usually occurs without any particular event or incident and will gradually worsen over a long period of time. It is usually characterised by pain and tenderness in the shoulder joint region and will be aggravated through overhead reaching, lifting, reaching behind the back and lying on the side of the injured shoulder.

Sources:

Akhtar, A., Richards, J. and Monga, P. (2021) The biomechanics of the rotator cuff in health and disease – A narrative review, Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8111677/#abs0010 (Accessed: 23 June 2025).

Sripathi, P. and Agrawal, D.K. (2024) Rotator cuff injury: Pathogenesis, biomechanics, and Repair, Journal of orthopaedics and sports medicine. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39574962/ (Accessed: 23 June 2025).

Rotator Cuff (no date) Physiopedia. Available at: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Rotator_Cuff (Accessed: 23 June 2025).

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