What's a torn rotator cuff feel like? :(

[USMuscle9403]

Bad news, feel as though I may have torn my RC. My stupid ass tried to kick up some pretty heavy DBs last night and my left one got up to chest level, then slipped downward but then I kicked it up a little more and was able to get it up. I didn't feel any pain at first, but a little later on I felt something deep in my shoulder. This morning, it's worse. It seems like it only hurts when I raise my arm to the side or to the front. Please don't tell me this is my RC...

[speedR]

Ouch that sucks . I highly doubt you tore your rotator though. Seems like you have a pretty nasty strain though. You happen to train your rotators at all? I started incorporating some weights on shoulders day to try and avoid this problem. Hope you get well soon!

[asim]

I agree that its probably a strain. When i strained my rotator cuff, it actually went crunch. Felt really weird, no pain at first then it came on slowly and then i lost all ability with the arm. Its been over a year and both shoulders are still wack.

[BenGrowing]

I'm with speedR and asim. I have nagging off and on problems with my left rotator...pain occurs when I lift my arm to the front and sometimes to the side, like yours. It got pretty bad a few weeks ago so I took a week off, icing it a few times a day. Do you currently do rotator exercises? I definitely recommend those. Glucosamine and chondroiton do wonders for me too. Good luck, Allen.

[ChrisThePirate]

two of my friends had the same pain you're describing

one had to have surgery and the other only needed some therapy which he is currently doing

i would just get it checked out asap

[BroadStBruiser]

I've never had that injury but my grandfather tore his shoveling snow and described what your going through. Go the doctors and get it checked.

[rowtogrow]

Allen get it looked at by a Dr. Do you know what internal rotation and external rotation are at the shoulder? Look them up, if you have pain with those movements it's a great idea to see a Dr.

[PTAaron]

Complete tear would hurt bad initially and you would generally see bruising. You would have significant weakness with flexion and abduction - and probably not be able to move through the full range. You pain would be minimal with attempted active movement - since the tendon would no longer be attached (in a complete tear). Typically with a complete tear you would have also felt a pop as the tendon let go.

Partial tear would hurt real bad initially, and it would continue to hurt whenever you move it. You would possibly have bruising and some limited motion - but your strength would be OK, just very painful to test. You would also have pain with movements that put the partially torn tendons on stretch... along with pain to palpation of the area of the tendons and muscle bellies.


And to asim: a 'strain' doesn't last a year... I would get it checked out again by someone more thorough.

[USMuscle9403]

Thanks fellas for the quick and friendly responses. Will get it checked out by a doc when I can.

PTAaron, from those descriptions...it doesn't sound like either. Maybe, OK HOPEFULLY, it's just a small strain. I wouldn't really call it a painful pain (how much sense did that make?), it's just a sharp discomfortable pain when I try to raise my arm to the side or to the front. I risked it earlier though and decided to test it a little...I saw how far I could raise my arm. Oddly enough, it wasn't painful once my arm got past being parallel with my shoulder. Think about it like this, it's 'painful' if I were to do the movement of a side lateral, but past the top of the movement (shoulder level and above), no more pain.

[PTAaron]

Painful arc... makes sense... sounds like you just pinched something and now you have a tendonitis with impingement going on... Once the tendon gets irritated it swells, making it easier to pinch as you raise your arm up to the side, once the bones move past the point where they can potentially pinch the tendon the pain goes away.

Anti-inflamms, ice massage, a bit of rest, and you should be good to go.

[BigDownUnder]

This may help.
Taken from this site:
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/shou...treatments.htm

Shoulder tendinitis: Tendinitis is inflammation (redness, soreness, and swelling) of a tendon. In tendinitis of the shoulder, the rotator cuff and/or biceps tendon become inflamed, usually as a result of being pinched by surrounding structures. The injury may vary from mild inflammation to involvement of most of the rotator cuff. When the rotator cuff tendon becomes inflamed and thickened, it may get trapped under the acromion. Squeezing of the rotator cuff is called impingement syndrome.
Symptoms of Shoulder tendinitis: What Are the Signs of Tendinitis and Bursitis?

Signs of these conditions include the slow onset of discomfort and pain in the upper shoulder or upper third of the arm and/or difficulty sleeping on the shoulder. Tendinitis and bursitis also cause pain when the arm is lifted away from the body or overhead. If tendinitis involves the biceps tendon (the tendon located in front of the shoulder that helps bend the elbow and turn the forearm), pain will occur in the front or side of the shoulder and may travel down to the elbow and forearm. Pain may also occur when the arm is forcefully pushed upward overhead.1

More symptoms of Shoulder tendinitis: In addition to the above information, to get a full picture of the possible symptoms of this condition and its related conditions, it may be necessary to examine symptoms that may be caused by complications of Shoulder tendinitis, underlying causes of Shoulder tendinitis, associated conditions for Shoulder tendinitis, risk factors for Shoulder tendinitis, or other related conditions.

Treatments of Shoulder tendinitis discussion: The first step in treating these conditions is to reduce pain and inflammation with rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin, naproxen (Naprosyn*), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, or Nuprin), or cox-2 inhibitors (Celebrex, Vioxx, or Nobic). In some cases the doctor or therapist will use ultrasound (gentle sound-wave vibrations) to warm deep tissues and improve blood flow. Gentle stretching and strengthening exercises are added gradually. These may be preceded or followed by use of an ice pack. If there is no improvement, the doctor may inject a corticosteroid medicine into the space under the acromion. While steroid injections are a common treatment, they must be used with caution because they may lead to tendon rupture. If there is still no improvement after 6 to 12 months, the doctor may perform either arthroscopic or open surgery to repair damage and relieve pressure on the tendons and bursae