Sore Shoulder

The shoulder joint is surrounded by a group of four muscles that are designed to both move it and keep it stable when it's in motion.

These muscles are called: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor.

Together as a group they are called the Rotator Cuff - although some people shorten this to simply call them the Rotary Cuff of the shoulder.

Each muscle is joined to the bones of the shoulder by a tough bit of gristle called a tendon and these tendons can be vulnerable to either inflammation (tendonitis) or tearing. A tear in the rotary cuff muscles often ends up needing surgical treatment - most often in the form of a decompression procedure where the bone is trimmed back to make more room for the swollen and inflamed tendons.

Supraspinatus is the most common of the rotary cuff muscles to be injured - and if it becomes damaged the the pain is felt around the shoulder and sometimes also a little way down the arm.