Our shoulders are an important part of our body and need taking care of if serious injury is to be avoided. Anyone who has ever sustained an injury to their shoulder will tell you that it can be extremely painful. There is a strong temptation to ignore niggling shoulder pain in the hope that it will go away by itself, if however the pain in your shoulder is constant then that is a different matter. If you are struggling with constant pain in your shoulder then this may be the result of an injury to the group of muscles that make up what is known as the rotator cuff.

The muscles and tendons in the rotator cuff are an essential part of your shoulder and enable its flexibility and its ability to move in a variety of directions. The rotator cuff is easily injured and if the injury is ignored then it will result in torn muscles, a lot more pain, and decreased flexibility. However, a rotator cuff injury can be healed in a number of different ways, more rarely the injury will require rotator cuff surgery.

Your doctor will decide whether or not you will need surgery for an injured shoulder and his decision will depend very much on the extent of the injury. Not all injuries to the shoulder are the same and they may have different causes. Most rotator cuff injuries can be categorized in the following ways:

?Chronic rotator cuff injuries ? these usually occur through repetitive movements and a continuous overworking of the muscles.

?Acute rotator cuff injuries ? severe damage can be caused to the shoulder and rotator cuff as the result of a serious fall.

While both types of injuries are painful and will need some kind of treatment this treatment may not necessarily involve a surgical procedure. In cases where the rotator cuff is injured but the muscles are not torn, surgery is only rarely recommended. If the muscles that go to make up the rotator cuff are not torn then they are very likely inflamed ? as can happen with overuse. In some cases there is no remedy as the injury will heal itself over a period of time. This takes longer in some cases than others, however you should consult your doctor who can prescribe pain killers that will help you on the road to recovery and ease the pain of the injury.

If you have an injury that has resulted in the rotator cuff muscles being torn then it is more than likely that you will need some form of surgery to remedy the injury. Where the rotator cuff muscles have been torn but the shoulder has not been operated on then it is very likely that the condition will get worse and the pain more severe over time. When this happens it affects the overall strength and flexibility of the rotator cuff and can lead to premature aging of the cuff and may result in arthritis at a later date.