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Utah Orthopaedic Specialists
Damage to your rotator cuff muscles or tendons can be caused by the wear and tear of daily activities or sports, or by a sudden injury. This damage can cause weakness and pain in the shoulder. Even simple tasks can become hard to do. Your healthcare provider will tell you which of the following conditions matches your shoulder problem.
Repetitive activities like throwing or reaching overhead can strain your rotator cuff tendons. This can cause the cuff to become inflamed (irritated and swollen)or frayed from overuse.
Impingement (pinching) can happen the bursa or tendons be becomes swollen. This can reduce space between the bursa and the acromion, squeezing the soft tissues painfully against the bone. in some cases, a naturally hooked acromion further reduces space and irritates the bursa.
A sudden or chronic injury or inflammation can cause calcium deposits to form in your rotator cuff. When deposits within the tendons of the cuff, it’scalled calcific tendinitis. When deposits build up in the bursa, it’scalled calcific bursitis. These hard deposits irritate the soft tissues of the joint.
Tears of the rotator cuff muscles or tendons can be caused by severe tendinitis or a sudden injury. In some cases, only a small bit of tendon will tear (partial tear). Or the tendon may tear all the way through (complete tear).This can result in pain and may cause shoulder weakness.
