| The shoulder is a highly mobile and relatively | | | | fibrous until they become wholly tendinous. Many |
| unstable joint with the largest range of motion of | | | | bodily tendons are cylindrical and long but the |
| all the body's joints. The shoulder is designed to | | | | shoulder tendons are flatter structures which |
| allow us to put our hands in front of our vision so | | | | coalesce over the top of the humeral head. The |
| we can watch as we perform complex manual | | | | rotator cuff has a relatively poor blood supply and |
| manoeuvres, a defining feature of primates and | | | | little or no ability to heal and with time and |
| humans. The shoulder has a group of muscles | | | | physical stresses tears appear which are often |
| which stabilise and move the joint, a group known | | | | painful but not always so. Rotator cuff tears are |
| as the rotator cuff, which forms a tendinous cuff | | | | a major part of a shoulder surgeon's work and |
| around the head of the humerus so that it can | | | | rotator cuff surgery is common, complex and |
| exert the necessary forces. | | | | demands detailed physiotherapy follow up for |
| As the muscles approach their insertions on the | | | | successful outcomes. |
| humeral head they become more and more | | | | |