The most common torn rotator cuff symptoms that people present to a doctor’s office with are; shoulder pain in varying degrees of severity, difficulty sleeping on the affected shoulder, and quite often, difficulty raising the affected arm due to pain and “weakness”.
The pictures above show the two types of MRI machines; the “closed" MRI (left) and the “open” MRI (right).
What is an MRI, you ask?
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-radiation-producing diagnostic test in which the body, or body part, is subjected to a strong, localized magnetic field. This magnetic field causes the atoms in the cells of the body part(s) being examined to become “excited”.
These atoms then all “flip” in the same direction. The magnetic field “hits” these atoms / cells and then sends back a signal that gets transformed into an “image”; which is what the doctor sees. The stronger the magnet; the clearer the image.
This magnetic field can also be adjusted and fine-tuned in a variety of ways, enabling doctors to get high quality images of bones, muscles, tendons, blood vessels, and other tissues as well.
The closed magnet MRI has long been seen as the cream of the crop of MRI equipment, and the bigger the magnet, the better the images. This is changing rapidly, however, as constant improvements in technology are vastly improving open magnet images.
Many people cannot tolerate the “closed-in” feeling of the closed ring MRI, but some can endure it with sedative medication. Still, others simply cannot be placed into the “tube with feeling claustrophobic (fear of enclosed spaces). In these instances the open MRI machine is a necessity, and a blessing.
These two MRI images at right show the head of the humerus with the rotator cuff lying on top of it. The cuff is typically dark in color. The bright white-ish spots (see arrows) are showing the "gap" that occurs when the rotator cuff tears and separates. In general, the greater the gap, the more the tissue has retracted back and the more potentially difficult the repair.
Therefore, between torn rotator cuff symptoms, physical examination, x-rays and the MRI, one can get a really good look, and understanding, of the status of your rotator cuff.
Once a diagnosis of a torn rotator cuff has been made, it usually results in the recommendation of surgical repair.
Other torn rotator cuff symptoms can include “popping” or “cracking” in the shoulder with movements, or a specific incident that caused pain and weakness afterward, like a sudden jerking motion or a fall or a dislocation of the shoulder.
