04/09/2017
Painful Shoulder
Is it a Frozen Shoulder or a Rotator cuff tear?
Rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons around the shoulder. Rotator cuff injury is very common in active adult age group. Rotator cuff is torn secondary to sudden trauma –either due to fall or lifting heavy object. Complete tear is more commonly seen in elderly patients as tendon is already weak due to age related degenerative changes.
Rotator cuff tear may be misdiagnosed as a frozen Shoulder.
Frozen Shoulder is a slowly developing severe stiffness of shoulder without any obvious muscle tear. It is very commonly seen in Diabetic patients.
Expert Shoulder Surgeon can easily differentiate Cuff tear from Frozen Shoulder.
In both the conditions the patient cannot lift his hand above the shoulder level. What differentiates the two is that, in rotator cuff tear, patient can at least do overhead movement with support of opposite hand.
Rotator cuff tear needs treatment in the form of Arthroscopic Repair surgery, while frozen shoulder resolves with only physiotherapy.
Dr Shirish Pathak
