The rotator cuff is a group of four small muscles that surround the shoulder joint. They function together to stabilize the shoulder and allow us, among other things, to raise our arms over our heads, or to move our shoulders backwards and forward, such as when we throw a ball.

Often ignored in workouts, the rotator cuff muscles are actually very important. Without them, we would not be able to move our shoulders properly. Our shoulder would pop out of position and limit our movements. As you can imagine, any problem in this area is likely to cause a lot of pain.

In order to understand rotator cuff anatomy, it helps to have an overall picture of what these muscles do for us. Think of an antenna tower or one of those big poles in a circus tent. In both cases you want it to stay perfectly upright and in place. An antenna tower is held in place by several high tension guy wires that pull out on the tower in all directions. If the wind blows the tower in one direction, the opposite cable pulls back, keeping the tower from swaying and falling over.

The rotator cuff muscles work in the same way, except that our shoulder and arm are in constant movement. As some of the muscles in our shoulder lift up, others have to pull down. As we rotate our shoulder forward, such as when throwing a ball, other muscles have to pull back to keep our arms from flying off our body. The rotator cuff works as a well-choreographed team during shoulder movements. As you might imagine, a break down in the system will quickly lead to problems.

Rotator Cuff Anatomy

Supraspinatus
Basically, the supraspinatus muscle attaches on top of the shoulder. it helps lift the arm up and away from the body. Imagine holding a beer can in your hand as you old your arm out to your side. As you lift up your arm to the side, you are contracting the supraspinatus muscle.

The supraspinatus muscle attaches to the top of the shoulder joint. It then travels over the shoulder joint and back under the scapula. If you feel the bony part of the top of the shoulder, the supraspinatus travels right underneath this through a relatively narrow passage. This narrow passage makes the supraspinatus muscle vulnerable to pinching or impingement, a common source of shoulder pain. The supraspinatus receives fairly poor blood supply is often commonly injured by tendonitis and tears.

Infraspinatis
The infraspinatis muscle also attaches to the top of the shoulder joint, but just a little farther to the rear of the shoulder. It functions to help rotate the shoulder backwards, such as when cocking the shoulder in preparation for throwing a ball. It also helps pull back or decelerate the arm at the end of throwing a ball. Without the infraspinatus muscle, you would throw your arm along with the ball.

Teres-Minor
The teres-minor muscle works in a similar fashion to the infraspinatus. It helps to rotate the shoulder backwards before a throw, and then to decelerate the shoulder after the throw.

Subscapularis
Finally, there is the subscapularis muscle. This is one of the muscles that help rotate or shrug your shoulders forward. There are a number of other muscles involved in moving the shoulder forward in this manner, for example, pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, and teres major. Therefore it is often difficult to diagnose a weakness in this specific muscle.

Scapular Stabilizers
In addition to the rotator cuff muscles, a full understanding of rotator cuff anatomy also includes the scapular stablizer muscles. These are also very important in the proper functioning of the shoulder. You should be aware of these and make sure that any training or rehabilitation program also focuses on developing these muscles.

The scapular stabilizer muscles include: serratus anterior, the trapezius muscles, and the rhomboids. They attach to the scapula and all help coordinate shoulder movement.

So lets go back to the antenna tower analogy for a minute. In terms of rotator cuff anatomy, imagine that each of these rotator cuff and shoulder stabilizer muscles are like the guy wires holding up the antenna tower. Each one has a specific duty to perform. If one is weakened or damaged, the whole system starts to change and become unstable.

Therefore, to maintain proper health in the shoulder, you need to make sure each of these mucles are strong and operating correctly.

If you are suffering from pain in your shoulder, it is likely due to weakness, inflammation, pinching, or a tear somewhere in this system. Only your doctor can help you determine where.

Typically, rotator cuff and shoulder problems can be treated effectively with physical therapy. The basic strategy is to start out with targeted stretching, the build flexibility and range of motion in the shoulder. Then, specific exercises are added to build strength in each of the muscles.

Whether you are seeking to strengthen your shoulder to prevent injury, or to rehabilitate it after an injury, following a targeted program of stretching and exercise can be very beneficial.

Don’t want expensive physical therapy bills?  You can always learn to do these stretches and exercises yourself.

Now that you have a basic understanding of rotator cuff anatomy, be sure to check out this excellent guide to proper shoulder training and rotator cuff pain relief.

Click here to find reviews on several excellent guides to shoulder strength training and shoulder pain relief.

Tagged with:

Filed under: Shoulder Pain Recovery

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!