The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles that become tendons and attach in the shoulder, and theyŐre responsible for two things; holding the ball in the socket, and helping to elevate the arm. It is one of the most frequent injuries we see, particularly in patients who get over the age of 40, in their shoulder and often itŐs responsible for pain at night, decreased function in the shoulder, and just a general debilitation of the shoulder. These can be diagnosed clinically. Typically, we will get MRI to confirm the diagnosis. ItŐs important to know about rotator cuff tears that they donŐt all require surgery. Rotator cuff tearing is a natural kind of progression of the shoulder and a natural aging process in the shoulder. And so a lot of rotator cuff tears can at least be initially managed non-operatively with things like physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, and occasionally steroid injections. But when those things fail, doing a surgery to repair the rotator cuff, to actually sew it back down to the bone, is probably one of the most common surgeries that we do here at UVA in sports medicine.