Shoulder Impingement vs Rotator Cuff Tear: How Doctors Tell the Two Apart and Why It Matters

The cereal box lives on the top shelf, and for months Dana has been reaching for it with a small wince and a bigger shrug. Nothing dramatic happened. No fall, no pop. Yet sleeping on that side has become impossible, and last week pulling on a jacket brought a sharp catch that stopped her mid-motion.

Her search history now reads like a debate: shoulder impingement vs rotator cuff tear. The two names sit side by side on every results page, describing pain in the same place, triggered by the same movements, and yet pointing toward quite different conversations with a doctor.

That overlap is exactly why the distinction is worth understanding. One is mostly an irritation problem that tends to respond to time and well-chosen exercise. The other involves damaged tendon fibers, and some versions of it carry a clock. Here is how clinicians sort one from the other, and why the answer shapes what happens next.

What the rotator cuff does, and why it gets squeezed

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons that wrap around the ball of the shoulder joint and hold it centered in a shallow socket. A tendon is the cord of tissue connecting muscle to bone. Think of the shoulder as a golf ball resting on a tee: the socket is small, the ball is large, and without the cuff’s constant tension the ball would slide around every time the arm lifted.

Above the tendons sits the acromion, the bony roof formed by the outer edge of the shoulder blade. Between roof and tendons lies the bursa, a thin fluid-filled sac that lets the tendons glide. The gap is narrow, only about a fingertip’s width, and it narrows further as the arm rises overhead. Anything that swells inside that space, or anything that lowers the roof, means rubbing.

The cuff also ages. Mayo Clinic notes that the risk of rotator cuff injury climbs with age and that repeated overhead motion in jobs and sports adds to the strain. Tendon tissue in midlife has a thinner blood supply near where it attaches to bone, so small insults heal more slowly than they did at twenty.

Two things follow from this anatomy. First, the same crowded space produces both problems, so the early symptoms overlap heavily. Second, the cuff’s job is strength as much as movement. When a tendon is merely irritated, the muscle still pulls; when fibers are torn, some of that pull is lost. That difference, between a tendon that hurts and a tendon that cannot do its work, is the thread doctors follow through the entire examination.

What actually happens in shoulder impingement

Impingement describes the pinching of rotator cuff tendons and the bursa between the top of the arm bone and the acromion as the arm lifts. Cleveland Clinic describes it as one of the most frequent causes of shoulder pain in adults, often linked to repetitive overhead activity. Many clinicians now prefer the broader label subacromial pain syndrome, because the pinching itself is only part of the story.

Here is the sequence in plain terms. A tendon works hard, perhaps from a new painting project, a swim season or years of desk posture that tips the shoulder blade forward. The tendon becomes tendinopathic, meaning its fibers thicken and lose their orderly structure without splitting. The bursa above it inflames and swells. A space that was already snug grows tighter. Each overhead reach now compresses irritated tissue against bone, provoking more swelling, and the loop closes.

The pain has a characteristic feel: a deep ache at the front or side of the shoulder, worse when the arm is lifted between roughly shoulder height and overhead, easing again near the very top. Clinicians call this the painful arc. Lying on the affected side at night often wakes people, because body weight pushes the arm bone up toward the roof.

Muscle control matters as much as bone shape. If the shoulder blade does not rotate upward smoothly, the roof effectively drops onto the tendons. This is why rehabilitation for impingement targets the muscles that steer the blade, not just the cuff itself.

Crucially, the tendon in pure impingement is intact. It hurts, and it may feel weak because pain inhibits the muscle, but the fibers remain continuous from muscle to bone. That structural fact is what separates it from the tear described next.

What a rotator cuff tear really is: partial, full-thickness, sudden or slow

A rotator cuff tear means the fibers of one or more cuff tendons have split. The tendon most often involved is the supraspinatus, which runs directly beneath the acromion. Cleveland Clinic separates tears by depth: partial-thickness tears, where the tendon is frayed or split part of the way through but still attached, and full-thickness tears, where the split runs all the way through and may pull the tendon completely off the bone.

Tears also divide by how they arrive. An acute tear happens in a moment: a fall onto an outstretched arm, a heavy lift, a sudden yank while catching something. People often describe a tearing sensation followed by immediate weakness. A degenerative tear arrives over years, as tendon tissue thins with age and repeated load until it gives way under ordinary use. Mayo Clinic notes that degenerative tears become more common with age and frequently affect the dominant arm.

Some tears cause no symptoms at all. Imaging of adults without shoulder pain regularly turns up cuff defects, particularly in later decades. That fact unsettles people but matters clinically: finding a tear on a scan does not automatically make it the source of the pain.

The features that most concern clinicians are weakness that persists once pain is controlled, an inability to hold the arm up against gravity, and a tear that follows a clear injury in someone who is otherwise active. Those signal that fibers, not just irritation, have been lost.

Tendons do not regrow across a gap the way skin closes over a cut. A partial tear may become painless and functional through rehabilitation, and a full-thickness tear can be managed without surgery in many people, but the gap itself remains. That biological reality is why the two diagnoses lead to different conversations.

Shoulder impingement vs rotator cuff tear symptoms: how to tell if a rotator cuff is torn or strained

Ask a room of people with shoulder pain to describe it and the answers blur together: aching at the side of the arm, trouble reaching behind the back, waking at night. Cleveland Clinic lists nearly identical symptom pictures for impingement and for tears, which is exactly why doctors do not diagnose by symptoms alone.

The clues that begin to separate them concern story, strength and speed.

Story. Impingement tends to build gradually and to link with a change in activity, such as a new sport or an overhead work task. A tear that follows a distinct event, a fall or a heavy pull, raises the likelihood that fibers have given way. Degenerative tears blur this line, because they also creep up slowly.

Strength. Pain makes anyone reluctant to push, so weakness during a flare does not settle the question. Weakness that remains once pain has been calmed, or a sudden inability to lift the arm sideways at all, points more firmly toward a tear.

Speed of change. Impingement symptoms often wax and wane with load. A tear can produce a step change: one week the shoulder was cranky, the next it cannot raise a coffee cup to shoulder height.

People frequently ask how to tell whether a rotator cuff is torn or strained at home. The honest answer is that it cannot be done reliably. A strain, meaning overstretched or mildly damaged fibers, and a partial tear can feel identical, and both can coexist with impingement. Mayo Clinic’s advice is straightforward: pain that limits everyday use of the arm, or any weakness after an injury, should be examined rather than interpreted from a list.

What you can usefully do is notice and record: when it started, which movements hurt, whether the arm feels weak rather than merely sore, and how sleep is affected. Those details make the clinical examination faster and more accurate.

What test confirms shoulder impingement?

The short answer surprises people: no single test confirms shoulder impingement. Diagnosis rests on a pattern assembled from the history, a hands-on examination and, when needed, imaging. The NHS describes shoulder pain assessment as something a GP or physiotherapist can usually do by asking about the pain and watching how the arm moves.

Several provocation maneuvers are used in that examination. In one, the examiner lifts the straightened arm forward and upward while steadying the shoulder blade, pressing the tendons against the roof. In another, the elbow is bent and the arm rotated inward at shoulder height. Pain reproduced in the familiar spot suggests the tendons and bursa are being compressed. Clinicians also watch for the painful arc, the mid-range zone of lifting where the ache appears and then fades.

These maneuvers are useful but imperfect. They can be positive in people with tears, with bursitis, with early frozen shoulder and sometimes with neck problems that send pain into the shoulder. Research reviews consistently find that the tests indicate the general region of trouble better than they pinpoint a single structure, which is why experienced examiners combine several rather than trusting one.

Strength testing is the counterweight. Each cuff tendon can be loaded in relative isolation: lifting the arm sideways against resistance for the supraspinatus, rotating outward for the infraspinatus, rotating inward for the subscapularis. Pain with preserved strength leans toward impingement; genuine loss of force leans toward a tear.

Some clinicians add a diagnostic injection of local anesthetic into the bursa. If the pain vanishes and strength returns, the weakness was pain-driven and the tendon is probably intact. If pain fades but weakness persists, the tendon itself is suspect.

So the confirming test is really a process: history, examination and, sometimes, a targeted scan.

When doctors order an ultrasound, MRI or X-ray, and when they don't

Most people with shoulder pain never need a scan in the first weeks. The NHS advises that shoulder pain often improves with simple measures and suggests seeing a GP if it is not improving after about two weeks or is getting worse. Imaging enters the picture when the story or the examination raises specific questions.

An X-ray does not show tendons, but it shows bone. It can reveal a hooked or spurred acromion that narrows the space, calcium deposits within a tendon, arthritis in the small joint at the top of the shoulder, or an arm bone that has drifted upward, which itself hints at a long-standing large tear.

Ultrasound is often the first soft-tissue test. A trained operator can watch the tendons move in real time, measure their thickness, spot fluid in the bursa and identify both partial and full-thickness tears. It is quick and involves no lying inside a machine. Its accuracy does depend on who is holding the probe.

MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, builds detailed cross-sectional pictures using magnets rather than radiation. It shows tear size, how far the tendon has pulled back, whether the muscle behind it has begun to waste or fill with fat, and what else in the joint may be contributing. Surgeons generally want an MRI before discussing repair, because those details determine whether a tendon can realistically be reattached.

Two cautions belong here. Scans find changes in people who have no pain, so a report listing tendinopathy or a small tear does not by itself explain symptoms. And a normal-looking scan does not mean the pain is imagined; irritation can hurt without appearing on any image. Doctors read the picture next to the person, never instead of them.

Shoulder impingement vs rotator cuff tear at a glance

Laid side by side, the two conditions look like cousins in their early stages and strangers later on. This table summarizes how clinicians typically weigh shoulder impingement vs rotator cuff tear; individual cases overlap, and only an examining clinician can place a particular shoulder on it.

Feature	Shoulder impingement	Rotator cuff tear
What is damaged	Tendon irritated and thickened, bursa inflamed, fibers intact	Tendon fibers split, partially or all the way through
Typical onset	Gradual, often with overhead activity	Sudden after injury, or slow degeneration with age
Pain pattern	Mid-range painful arc, night pain lying on that side	Similar, sometimes with pain at rest in larger tears
Strength	Usually preserved once pain is controlled	Often reduced, especially lifting sideways or rotating outward
Age tendency	Any age, common in active adults	Rises with age, particularly after 60 (Mayo Clinic)
How it is confirmed	Examination pattern, response to rehabilitation, ultrasound if unclear	Ultrasound or MRI
Usual first step	Physiotherapy, activity modification, short-term pain relief	Same for many people; earlier surgical opinion for acute full-thickness tears
Can the tissue recover?	Irritation can settle completely	Partial tears may quiet down; a full-thickness gap persists

The row that matters most is strength. Almost everything else on the list can be shared, but a tendon that is continuous can still transmit force once its pain is dampened, and a tendon with a gap cannot. That is why clinicians spend so much of the examination pushing gently against your arm.

The second most useful row is onset. A shoulder that gave way during a specific moment, especially in someone who was previously strong, is treated with more urgency than one that has grumbled for months. Both pathways are legitimate; they simply run on different timetables.

Can a shoulder impingement turn into a tear?

Sometimes, though the path is less direct than the phrasing implies. Cleveland Clinic describes untreated impingement as a condition that can progress to tendon damage, and the mechanism is plausible: a tendon that is repeatedly compressed and inflamed loses the orderly collagen structure that gives it strength. Fibers that are already disorganized fail more easily under a load that healthy tissue would absorb.

Two qualifications matter. First, most impingement does not end in a tear. The great majority of people whose tendons are irritated settle with load management and exercise, and their tendons remain continuous. Second, the strongest predictor of a degenerative tear is not a prior diagnosis of impingement but age itself. Mayo Clinic lists increasing age, repetitive overhead work and family history as leading risk factors, and many people develop tears without ever having had a recognized impingement episode.

It is also worth flipping the question. Rather than impingement causing tears, a partial tear is often the reason a tendon becomes thick and irritable in the first place, producing impingement-type pain. The two exist on a spectrum of the same tissue under the same stresses, and where a given shoulder sits can shift over years.

What does raise concern is a change in the character of an established problem. A shoulder that has ached for months and then, after a stumble or a heavy lift, loses strength abruptly deserves reassessment, because that pattern fits fibers giving way in tissue already weakened.

The practical message is not fear but attention. Managing impingement well, meaning restoring shoulder blade control, gradually rebuilding tendon capacity and avoiding the sudden overloads that a compromised tendon tolerates poorly, is the same work that protects against progression. Treating the irritation is, in effect, tending the tendon.

Who is usually sent to physiotherapy first, and who is referred sooner

For most shoulders, the first prescription is the same regardless of the exact label: a period of relative rest from provoking activities, pain management, and a structured exercise program supervised by a physiotherapist. The NHS recommends this route for most shoulder pain, and Cleveland Clinic describes non-surgical care as the starting point for both impingement and many rotator cuff tears.

Who is typically asked to wait and work? People with a gradual onset, preserved strength, no clear injury and pain that is limiting but not disabling. That includes most impingement, most partial tears and many degenerative full-thickness tears in older adults, whose tendons may be too worn for a durable repair and who can often regain comfortable function through rehabilitation alone.

Who is usually referred for an earlier surgical conversation? The clearest group is younger or physically demanding adults with an acute, full-thickness tear after a definite injury, particularly when the arm cannot be lifted against gravity. Tendons that retract from the bone can become harder to reattach over time, and the muscle behind them can shrink, so surgeons prefer to assess these sooner rather than after months of waiting. A second group is anyone whose pain and weakness fail to improve after a genuine, sustained trial of rehabilitation, which is generally framed as several months rather than weeks.

There are people in the middle. A partial tear in an overhead athlete, a full-thickness tear in a healthy sixty-year-old who wants to keep swimming, a bilateral problem in a manual worker: these are judgment calls where preferences, occupation, general health and imaging findings all weigh in.

None of this is a rulebook. The decision about pathway sits with the treating team, made with the person in the room, and it is entirely reasonable to ask why a particular route is being suggested.

What treatment involves for each diagnosis

Rehabilitation is the backbone for both diagnoses, and it is more specific than doing some exercises. For impingement, the program typically begins by calming the irritated tissue through activity modification and gentle range-of-motion work, then rebuilds the muscles that rotate and stabilize the shoulder blade, and finally reloads the cuff tendons progressively so they regain capacity. Cleveland Clinic frames this as a course that spans weeks to months rather than days.

For tears managed without surgery, the aim shifts toward compensation: strengthening the intact portions of the cuff and the surrounding muscles so the shoulder stays centered and functional despite the defect.

Pain relief is supportive rather than the main treatment. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, a class that reduces inflammation as well as pain, are commonly used for short periods; whether they suit an individual depends on stomach, kidney and heart health, which is a prescriber’s judgment. A corticosteroid injection into the bursa can quiet a severe flare enough to allow exercise. Its effect is usually measured in weeks, and repeated injections are approached cautiously because steroids may affect tendon quality. Timing and suitability rest with the treating clinician.

Surgery for impingement, when it is offered at all, usually means an arthroscopic procedure, keyhole surgery through small incisions with a camera, to remove inflamed bursa or shave bone that narrows the space. Evidence over recent years has made surgeons more selective, since rehabilitation achieves comparable results for many people.

Surgery for a tear means repair: reattaching the tendon to bone with anchors and sutures, usually arthroscopically. MedlinePlus describes a recovery in which the arm is protected in a sling at first and full return to activity commonly takes four to six months. Risks include stiffness, infection, re-tearing and anesthetic complications, and a surgeon weighs tear size, tissue quality and general health before recommending it.

What the following weeks usually look like

The first two weeks after seeing a clinician are usually quieter than people expect. Whether the working diagnosis is impingement or a small tear, the early goal is to stop poking the irritated tissue: modifying overhead tasks, adjusting sleeping position with a pillow under the arm, and beginning gentle movement rather than immobilizing the shoulder. The NHS suggests that pain which is not improving after about two weeks, or is getting worse, is the point to check back in.

Weeks three through eight are the working phase. Physiotherapy sessions become more demanding, with resistance bands and progressive loading. Progress is rarely a straight line; many people describe good days and setbacks after an unexpectedly heavy day. Clinicians look less at pain scores in this period than at function: can the arm be lifted higher, does night pain wake you less, is strength returning on testing.

Around the three-month mark comes a natural review. Cleveland Clinic describes recovery from impingement as typically running weeks to months, so meaningful improvement is expected by now. If it has not arrived, this is when imaging may be ordered or repeated and when the question of a surgical opinion is raised, especially if weakness has persisted.

For those who do have a repair, the timeline stretches. MedlinePlus describes an initial period in a sling to protect the reattached tendon, followed by passive movement guided by a therapist, then active movement, then strengthening. Return to full activity commonly takes four to six months, and heavier or overhead work may take longer. Driving, sleeping comfortably and dressing each have their own milestones the care team will outline.

These are typical ranges from the cited sources, not promises. Age, tear size, general health and how consistently the exercises are done all shift where an individual lands.

What people often get wrong about impingement and tears

The first misconception is that a sore shoulder should be rested completely. Total rest lets the muscles that steer the shoulder blade weaken, which narrows the space further and can stiffen the joint. Both the NHS and Mayo Clinic favor keeping the shoulder moving within comfortable limits while avoiding the specific movements that provoke sharp pain.

The second is that a scan tells the whole story. An MRI report describing tendinopathy or a small partial tear can read like a verdict, yet the same findings appear in many pain-free shoulders. Clinicians treat the person, not the printout, and a scan result rarely changes the first-line plan unless there is significant weakness.

The third is that a tear automatically means surgery. Cleveland Clinic notes that many rotator cuff tears, particularly degenerative ones in older adults, are managed without an operation. Repair is chosen for specific reasons, most often an acute full-thickness tear with weakness or failure of a proper rehabilitation trial, not because the word tear appeared on a report.

The fourth is the mirror image: that impingement is a bone problem needing a bone solution. The old idea that a spur on the acromion must be shaved down has lost ground as studies found rehabilitation performs comparably for many people. Shape matters, but muscle control and tendon health matter at least as much.

The fifth is that clicking or grinding proves damage. Shoulders make noise for many reasons, including perfectly healthy ones. Sound without pain or weakness is rarely significant on its own.

The last is that pain intensity equals tissue damage. Impingement can be exquisitely painful with intact tendons, while some large tears ache only mildly. Pain reflects irritation and the nervous system’s alarm setting, not the number of torn fibers, which is precisely why strength testing carries so much weight.

Questions to ask your care team

A shoulder appointment moves quickly, and the most useful questions are the ones that clarify what the clinician is thinking and what would change their mind. Writing them down beforehand helps, as does bringing a note of when the pain started, what triggered it and whether the arm feels weak or merely sore.

Consider asking:

• Based on the examination, do you think this is mainly irritation, a tear, or both, and what makes you lean that way?
• Did you find any true weakness, as opposed to weakness caused by pain?
• Do I need imaging now, and if so, what question would the scan answer that the examination cannot?
• What specifically should I avoid, and what should I keep doing?
• How will we know the rehabilitation program is working, and by roughly when should we expect to see change?
• If things are not improving at that point, what would the next step be?
• Are there features of my case that would make you refer me for a surgical opinion sooner?
• If an injection is suggested, what is it meant to achieve, how long is its effect expected to last, and how many would you consider reasonable?
• How does this shoulder problem interact with my other health conditions or medicines?

It is also fair to ask how confident the clinician is. Early shoulder diagnoses are often provisional, refined by how the shoulder responds over weeks. A good answer might be that impingement is most likely, that a partial tear cannot be excluded, and that the plan is the same either way for now. That kind of honesty is a sign of careful practice, not uncertainty to worry about.

Bring a second set of ears if you can. Recovery plans are detailed, and the person doing the exercises at home benefits from hearing them explained twice.

When to call your doctor

Most shoulder pain is not an emergency, but a handful of situations deserve prompt attention rather than a wait-and-see approach. These are the red-flag signs clinicians ask about.

Call the same day, or seek urgent care, if any of the following apply:

• You cannot lift your arm at all after a fall, a heavy lift or a wrenching injury, or the arm feels suddenly and profoundly weak. Mayo Clinic advises prompt evaluation for weakness after injury, since acute full-thickness tears are assessed sooner.
• The shoulder looks deformed, or there is a visible bulge or step in its outline, which may suggest a dislocation or fracture.
• The shoulder is hot, red and swollen, or you have a fever with the pain. Joint infection is uncommon but serious.
• You have numbness, tingling, a cold or pale hand, or weakness spreading down the arm, which point to nerve or blood-vessel involvement.
• Shoulder pain comes with chest pressure, breathlessness, sweating or nausea, particularly on the left. Heart problems can present as shoulder or arm pain, and this needs emergency assessment.
• Pain follows a fall in someone with fragile bones or over about sixty-five, when a fracture is more likely.

Book a routine appointment if the pain is not improving after roughly two weeks of sensible self-care, is getting worse, is waking you most nights, or is stopping you from working or dressing. The NHS uses this two-week marker as the point to see a GP.

After surgery, contact the surgical team about spreading redness, discharge or a wound that opens, a fever, calf pain or swelling, sudden breathlessness, or a sharp new loss of strength in the repaired arm.

Every decision about testing, treatment and timing belongs with your treating team. This guide is meant to help you understand their reasoning, not to replace it.

Frequently asked questions

Will a mild impinged shoulder go away on its own?

Often, yes, provided the provoking activity is reduced and the shoulder keeps moving. Cleveland Clinic and the NHS describe most impingement improving with activity modification, simple pain relief and progressive exercise over weeks to months. Complete rest tends to slow things down by weakening the muscles that control the shoulder blade. If pain is not improving after about two weeks, or weakness appears, an examination is worthwhile.

What is the most reliable shoulder impingement test?

There is no single reliable shoulder impingement test. Examiners use maneuvers that press the tendons against the bony roof, watch for a painful arc when the arm lifts, and test the strength of each cuff tendon. Research reviews find these tests better at indicating the general area of trouble than at naming one structure, which is why clinicians combine several and add ultrasound or MRI when the picture stays unclear.

Can impingement cause a tear?

It can contribute, but it is not the usual route. Cleveland Clinic notes that persistent impingement can progress to tendon damage because repeatedly compressed, inflamed tendon loses its structural quality. Even so, most impingement never becomes a tear, and age is the stronger driver of degenerative tears according to Mayo Clinic. A shoulder that suddenly loses strength after months of aching should be reassessed.

How can you tell a torn or strained rotator cuff apart at home?

Reliably, you cannot. A strain, meaning overstretched or mildly damaged fibers, and a partial tear feel almost identical, and both can accompany impingement. The clue that matters most is true weakness, especially an inability to lift the arm sideways after an injury, but pain alone can mimic weakness. Mayo Clinic advises having any post-injury weakness or pain that limits daily use examined by a clinician.

Which rotator cuff tear symptoms do doctors take most seriously?

Weakness that persists once pain is controlled, an arm that cannot be held up against gravity, and a tear following a clear injury in a previously strong shoulder. These suggest fibers have been lost rather than merely irritated. Night pain, aching at the side of the arm and difficulty reaching behind the back are common in tears but also in impingement, so they carry less diagnostic weight.

Do I need an MRI for shoulder pain?

Most people do not, at least at first. The NHS describes shoulder pain as usually assessable by examination, with imaging reserved for pain that fails to improve or for signs of a significant tear. Ultrasound is often the first soft-tissue scan. MRI is typically requested when surgery is being considered, because it shows tear size, tendon retraction and muscle quality, details that determine whether repair is feasible.

Can a rotator cuff tear heal without surgery?

Tendon fibers do not regrow across a full-thickness gap, but the shoulder can still become comfortable and functional without an operation. Cleveland Clinic notes that many tears, especially degenerative ones in older adults, are managed with physiotherapy, activity changes and pain relief. Partial tears frequently settle this way. Surgical repair is considered for acute tears with weakness or when a sustained rehabilitation trial has not helped.

Is it safe to keep exercising with shoulder impingement?

Generally yes, with modification rather than avoidance. Movements that reproduce sharp pain, typically overhead lifting and reaching, are reduced while lower-range work and shoulder blade exercises continue. Mayo Clinic and the NHS both favor staying active within comfort. A physiotherapist can shape a program that loads the tendons progressively, which is the mechanism by which they recover capacity.

Why does my shoulder hurt more at night?

Lying on the affected side pushes the arm bone up toward the bony roof, compressing the inflamed bursa and tendons directly. Lying flat also removes the small gravitational gap the tendons enjoy when upright. Night pain occurs in both impingement and tears, so it does not separate them. Sleeping on the other side with a pillow supporting the arm often helps, and persistent night pain is worth mentioning to your clinician.

Does a steroid injection tell doctors which condition I have?

Partly. When local anesthetic, sometimes combined with a corticosteroid, is placed in the bursa and pain fades, doctors retest strength. If strength returns, weakness was pain-driven and the tendon is probably intact; if weakness remains, a tear becomes more likely. The injection also calms a flare enough to allow exercise. Whether it suits you, and how often, is a decision for the treating clinician.

References

• NHS: Shoulder pain
• Cleveland Clinic: Shoulder impingement syndrome
• MedlinePlus: Rotator cuff repair

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.