| The rotator cuff muscles hold the head of the long | | | | objects toward you. A torn rotator cuff will cause |
| bone of your upper arm tightly in the socket of your | | | | tenderness over the tendons, especially when the |
| shoulder. Sports that require moving the arm over the | | | | elbow is raised above the shoulder. It will hurt when |
| head repeatedly can cause tearing and swelling of the | | | | you pull your arm across your chest, and you will have |
| tendons of these muscles. Baseball pitchers, | | | | difficulty raising your elbow over your shoulder. An |
| swimmers, weight lifters and tennis players often | | | | arthrogram is often not sensitive enough to diagnose a |
| suffer this injury. Chronic irritation can cause pain, | | | | partial tear of the rotator cuff but can show a |
| swelling and tearing of the rotator cuff. If you continue | | | | complete tear. |
| to exercise in spite of the pain, you will tear the | | | | The treatment is to avoid any motion that hurts and |
| tendons from their attachments. | | | | strengthen the uninjured shoulder muscles. Do |
| Initially, pain occurs only when you hold your arm over | | | | weight-lifting exercises that bring the weights toward |
| your head and bring it down or forward forcibly. Later, | | | | the body and do not hurt, such as upright rows and |
| it will hurt when the arm is moved forward for any | | | | downward "lat pulls". You may need surgery if the |
| reason, such as to shake hands. Usually, it hurts when | | | | rotator cuff tendons are torn completely, or if the |
| you push things away and does not hurt when you pull | | | | tendons do not heal within one year. |