Delineation of diagnostic criteria and a rehabilitation program for rotator cuff injuries.

In the examination and rehabilitation of patients with shoulder injuries it is necessary to isolate the individual rotator cuff muscles as much as possible. We subscribe to the belief that, independent of the deltoid, the rotator cuff muscles can become fatigued, injured, or atrophied individually, Accordingly, we feel that these muscles must be considered separately during examination and rehabilitation. This paper describes methods and positions to isolate the cuff and, thus, enable the examiner to be more precise in diagnosis and treatment. In addition, individual exercises for each component are described.