What questions do you get asked in relations to rotator cuff injuries?

What kind of questions do you get asked when people come in for rotator cuff injuries? Yeah so typically one of the most common questions that people ask when there's a rotator cuff injury is that will the rotator cuff repair itself? Will the tear repair itself? And usually a rotator cuff tear or a tendon in the tendon which is what we're talking about will not repair itself. Often we don't actually know the the age of the tear because these tears can be going on in the background and there may be an acute worsening of the tear following some injury or some activity which has led to them to come to see you because development of pain. But I think what we commonly fail to appreciate is that these tears have often been going on in the background for a long time. So will the tear repair itself? No, it will not. Usually repair is required if there is pain and weakness. So if there is a tear, then a steroid injection, for instance, is relatively contraindicated. In somebody who is active and wants to pursue an active lifestyle, then you are best advising them to have a repair. If somebody clearly has low activity levels or if they have other comorbidities which preclude them having surgery, then an injection, steroid injection, can be advised followed by appropriate rehabilitation and physiotherapy in the knowledge that you're unlikely to take them to theatre. But if If they are active and if they want to get back to an active lifestyle and the tear is stopping them doing that, then steroid injection is relatively contraindicated because it will reduce the chances of the tear healing and also it can potentially increase the size of the tear as well.