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Rotator Cuff Tears That End in Tears Sports in which the Injury Occurs The shoulder joint is one that is easily injured when engaging in sport. Tears in the rotator cuff muscles are especially observed in the overhead athlete. This means that athletes of the sports volleyball, tennis, baseball, football, swimming and even the javelin need to take extra precautions in maintaining integrity of the shoulder joint to prevent such an injury from even occurring at all (Jobe, F.W., 1993). Injuries can range from impingement to a fraying or tear in the muscles of the rotator cuff. Athletes that are involved in such overhead activities may experience these types of problems because repetitive overhead actions place unique demands upon the shoulder girdle and the muscles surrounding it. The main detrimental effects occur in the deceleration phase of the throwing motion as the eccentric loading of the muscle places unique demands upon the shoulder girdle and the supporting upper extremity muscles surrounding it (Litchfield et al, 1993). These muscles try to absorb a tremendous amount of shock while trying to slow down the quickly moving arm, it is this function that leads them to an early fatigue and failing to give the shoulder the proper support it needs to maintain its integrity. Mechanisms of Injury The injury first initiates when the repetitive movements from the overhead activities weakens the muscles that form the anterior wall of the shoulder capsule; namely the subscapularis, pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi and teres major (Jobe, F.W., 1993). When these muscles are weakened they fail to provide support to the anterior portion of the capsule allowing it to become stretched and an anterior subluxation of the humeral head soon follows. This anterior subluxation causes the posterior capsule to tighten up which further contributes to the displacement of the humeral head (Jobe, F.W., 1993).
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