Shoulder
Rotator Cuff Tear: Symptoms and Treatment
Night pain and overhead weakness need a diagnosis, not an endless series of unspecified shoulder injections.
Symptoms that point toward the cuff
Pain on reaching into a cupboard, discomfort lying on that side, and weakness when lifting the arm away from the body are typical. Frozen shoulder, by contrast, stiffens both active and passive motion. The two can overlap, which is why “my MRI says tendinopathy” is not the whole story.
Treatment without rushing to repair
Many degenerative tears and tendinopathies settle enough with a loading programme. Repair is more often discussed after an acute traumatic tear in someone who needs overhead strength, or when weakness and pain persist and the tendon is still repairable. A chronic, retracted tear with fatty muscle change may not be a good repair candidate — that limitation should be explained, not hidden.
Related: Rotator cuff treatment · Shoulder pain
E-E-A-T
Written for patients, reviewed as medical education
This page is educational. It is not personal medical advice and is not a substitute for examination, imaging review or treatment planned in clinic.
- Author / reviewer
- Dr. Rahul Kumar
- Qualifications
- MBBS, M.S. Orthopedics, MRCS (Edinburgh), FIFA Diploma in Football Medicine
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-29
- Last updated
- 2026-10-29
Awaiting medical review by Dr. Rahul Kumar