Monday, March 28, 2011

Rotator cuff disorders - how do they figure in?

The photograph above shows a surgical view looking down on the top of a shoulder with a rotator cuff tear. The muscle of the rotator cuff is at the upper left.  The edge of the rotator cuff tendon should be attached to the area to the side of the humeral head near the metal retractor at lower left. When this tendon is not attached, the muscle cannot deliver its force to the arm, resulting in weakness.

The rotator cuff is a common source of shoulder problems.  Use this link <rotator cuff > to take you to some useful information about the evaluation and management of rotator cuff problems.
These disorders may require surgical treatment if the symptoms are substantial and if gentle exercises are not of benefit. We had the opportunity to write a comprehensive article for the New England Journal of Medicine on this topic. You can see it here.


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You may be interested in some of our most visited web pages including: shoulder arthritis, total shoulder, ream and runreverse total shoulderCTA arthroplasty, and rotator cuff surgery.