Rotator cuff tear Because individuals are highly dependent on the shoulder for many activities, overuse of the muscles can lead to tears, the vast majority again occurring in the supraspinatus tendon. The role of the supraspinatus is to resist downward motion. The supraspinatus resists downward motion while the shoulder is relaxed as well as when carrying weight. Such a tear usually occurs at its point of insertion onto the humeral head at the greater tubercle. Even though the supraspinatus is the most commonly injured muscle of the four muscles in the rotator cuff, the other three muscles that comprise the rotator cuff, the
Subacromial bursitis (those) who were twenty-one to forty years old had less satisfactory results". The poorer outcome for patients over 60 years old was thought to be potentially related to "undiagnosed full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff". Subacromial bursitis Subacromial bursitis is a condition caused by inflammation of the bursa that separates the superior surface of the supraspinatus tendon (one of the four tendons of the rotator cuff) from the overlying coraco-acromial ligament, acromion, and coracoid (the acromial arch) and from the deep surface of the deltoid muscle. The subacromial bursa helps the motion of the supraspinatus tendon of the rotator cuff