Question

1. Rotator cuff tears are common injuries, not only in athletes but in the general population. About 25% of people over age 60 will end up with a rotator cuff tear from normal daily activity. What is the rotator cuff and what does it do? What specific structures or tissues could be damaged when it “tears”?

Answer 1

Rotator cuff is the structure made up of muscle and tendon that facilitates the fitting of ball head of upper arm bone (humerus) into shoulder joint.It contains 4 muscles named as -supraspinatus,infraspinatus,teres minor and subcapularis .Supraspinatus helps in elevating the arm,infraspinatus works in rotatting and extending the arm,teres minor functions in rotating the arm away from body and subcaularis helps in rotating ,straighting and lowering the arm.

It works in raising and rotating the arm.

Tears in the tendon part of rotator cuff affects the supraspinatus muscle portion ,when it tears.