Boniform

Tendon degeneration is classified in 3 stages (classification of the impingement syndrome) based on the supraspinatus outlet.
• Stage I - Edema and hemorrhage, affecting persons younger than 25 years
• Stage II - Fibrosis and tendinitis, affecting persons aged 25-40 years
• Stage III - Tears of cuff, affecting persons older than 50 years

Common signs and symptoms of rotator cuff tears are:
• Pain at night that prevents you from sleeping on the affected side.
• Pain usually is located anterolaterally and superiorly and referred to the level of the deltoid insertion with full-thickness tears.
• Catching and grating or cracking sounds when the arm is moved.
• Pain can sometimes diminish and turn into frozen shoulder.
• Can also be tenderness in the inflamed area
Rotator Cuff Injury Symptoms
• Chronic tear (more common for men at 40 yr olds)
o Usually occurs in the more dominant arm
o Worsening pain followed by gradual weakness

• Acute tear
o Sudden tearing sensation followed by severe pain shooting through the arm
o Acute pain from bleeding and muscle spasm (often goes away in a few days)

• Tendinitis
o More common in women 35-50 years of age
o Deep ache in the shoulder also felt on the outside upper arm
o Point tenderness
o Pain comes on gradually and becomes worse with lifting the arm to the side or turning it inward
o May lead to a chronic tear

Links for referencing
1) http://www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/medical_services/ortho/shoulder/conditions/rotator/signs.html.
2) http://www.emedicinehealth.com/rotator_cuff_injury/page3_em.htm#Rotator%20Cuff%20Injury%20Symptoms.
3) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/827841-overview.
4) http://www.aafp.org/afp/20041115/1947.html.