Your body’s muscles help you move and operate your body in many different ways. They also keep your joints and bones in alignment. Without muscles, you cannot walk, run, sit up straight, or do many other things that are so easy for most people.
The muscles can suffer damage when you are injured or respond to an illness. This can make movements hard to do and even painful. The tendons and ligaments that control the joints also have a job. They keep your bones in the right place and make them move as they should when you tell them to. When there is damage to these tissues, shoulder pain and disability can result. Here we will discuss the rotator cuff muscles, common problems in their function, and how a surgeon can help you recover from these problems.
What are the Rotator Cuff Muscles
A rotator cuff consists of muscles and tendons that control the movement of your shoulder joint and holds your arm in place against your body as it moves. They also attach your arm to your shoulder bone. The muscles attach to the top and bottom of the scapula. The muscles on the front of your rotator cuff control the movement of the lower part of your arm, pulling it toward you. The others control the movement of your arm’s upper part, pulling it away from you. They provide stability in the joint while keeping other movements in balance.
Your rotator cuff muscles comprise the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, and subscapularis muscles. The supraspinatus muscle is attached to the outer part of your shoulder, behind your ear. It pulls on the top of your arm to pull it down and out. The infraspinatus muscles are located behind your shoulder blade. They help pull your arm down and toward you. Finally, the subscapularis muscle is located under the bottom of your arm near the middle of your back. It controls the movement of your upper arm downward and toward you.
Common Problems in the Rotator Cuff
The muscles can get old and weak. They can become short or be damaged over time by repetitive motion that causes stress or injury. You can injure one or more of these muscles during a fall or while lifting heavy items. A rotator cuff tear in one of the tendons is often caused by sports or work activities that stress your shoulder joint. It’s also common in older people who have had an injury. Rotator cuff tears can be small and may heal on their own, or they can be large and require surgery to repair them.
The muscles may also get weaker due to chronic inflammation or arthritis. They can become inflamed and thickened. Fluid builds up around the joint, and it may not move well. This causes shoulder pain, especially before and after the movement of your arm. When one of these problems happens, you may feel weaker and have trouble lifting your arm overhead.
Reoccurring shoulder joint problems caused by the rotator cuff tendons are due to tendinitis. Tendinitis is an inflammatory process of the tendon and the tissue surrounding the tendon. The tendons can become inflamed and painful when you overuse them or use them in ways they aren’t designed to handle. If there are repeated small rotator cuff tears in these tissues, they can get inflamed and painful.
How a Surgeon Can Help You
If the rotator cuff muscles are sick, you can get help. The best way to treat this problem is to follow your doctor’s instructions. If your muscles are irritated and causing severe pain and weakness, your doctor may suggest that you take a pain reliever for a few days or weeks or do gentle stretching exercises to relieve the stress on the muscles.
Surgery is sometimes recommended to repair the torn tendon or muscle tearing. The surgery will remove damage to the muscle and tendon that can no longer function properly. During surgery, the rotator cuff tendons are placed back in their original position with anchors. Your San Antonio, Texas rotator cuff repair specialist will replace damaged tissue with tissue that work well.
How Dr. Kruse Can Help You
Dr. Kruse is a top US rotator cuff surgeon, located only 4 hours drive from San Antonio, TX. He is board certified and specializes in treating rotator cuff tears and other shoulder injuries with many types of surgeries. The new rotator cuff tear arthropathy technology provides the most advanced surgical approach to treating this condition. This minimally invasive surgery technique combines arthroscopic surgery with a long, thin tube that is navigated through small incisions in your body. With these arthroscopic rotator cuff tear procedures, Dr. Kruse can quickly diagnose and repair rotator cuff problems so you can return to your normal activities. Schedule an appointment to see if rotator cuff repair surgery is an option for you. If you need a San Antonio rotator cuff tear specialist, Dr. Kruse is one of the top surgeons in Texas and within the United States.
It’s important to follow your doctor’s instructions after an operation. It’s easy to become discouraged and lose motivation if you have tried everything and still don’t get better. Returning to normal activities can take several weeks to a few months. It may be helpful to talk with others who have had the same operation.