3 Signs You Have a Rotator Cuff Tear
- chelsie462
- Dec 18, 2025
- 7 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in October 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/ebPgur0anz8
Mike: Are you dealing with shoulder pain and unsure if it's a rotator cuff injury or tear?
Brad: Well, you're in luck because today we're going down memory lane, and we're going to show you some excellent footage from years ago with Bob and me, four years ago, on how to determine what it is.
Mike: And make sure to stay tuned because, after that, we're going to discuss if you need surgery or not. Let's take a warp back in time and see what these guys had to say.
Bob: So what's the first one, Brad?
Brad: Well, let's get Sam out of the way. Thank you, Sam. You did a good job. You didn't stutter or anything. Okay, the first one is the empty can test. This one's been around forever in the therapy world. And there's actually little controversy on how to do it, but we'll go through it for you. If you look at this straight out to your side, we don't want it there. You don't want it straight in front of you, but you want to lift your arm up at kind of a 45-degree angle.
Brad: And you can see Bob has this thumb down, and that's where it got the empty can name from. It's like if you have a can, in Wisconsin it would be a can of beer. You tip it upside down, and it would empty out. That's why it's called the empty can test. But now they say you can do it with the thumb up. So you can do it either way. Bob, you want to go up about halfway up. Now, if someone else pushes down on there, and it very easily goes down, creates pain, that's a positive sign.
Bob: Yeah, that's the telltale sign of a tear.
Brad: Yep, it's not 100% for sure, but it's pretty likely.
Bob: Sometimes, at least rotator cuff involvement, I think.
Brad: Right.
Bob: Might really fire it up.
Brad: Now, let's go to the second one. This one, Bob, he's got his arms out. 90-degree bend in the elbow. Now face me, Bob. Now the left one is the one that hurts. So I'm going to go to the good one. Face the camera now, Bob, and I'm going to push in this way. And you hold strong. Now he's really strong there. Now I'm going to go to the other one. I'm going to do the same thing. I'm going to bring pressure this way.
Bob: Oh, oh, oh.
Brad: And it usually falls right in, too, little pain, and it's very weak. If it's very weak and it's painful, it goes in. That's a positive sign.
Bob: Yeah. Positive, meaning that we think you might have a tear.
Brad: Right, exactly. Number three, this one you can do all by yourself. It's called the lift arm test. So you put your hand behind, and do this with your good hand first. Palm is away, so it's touching like where your belt is, and you're going to lift away like this. There you go.
Bob: So you can see I'm lifting away from the body.
Brad: Right, do it with your good arm first, and then try it with the sore arm.
Bob: And what you find, might find with the sore arm, you might not even be able to get it up here.
Brad: Right.
Bob: You might only be able to go down here.
Brad: Yep.
Bob: And then try to go up.
Brad: Yep, and that's leaning towards a positive sign.
Bob: Right.
Brad: So if you could get up there and you cannot lift it away from your body, it's positive, another indication you've got a rotator cuff tear. So we just had time travel, and you might be noticing this little gift package. It happens to be my birthday today. I'm 36, actually a little older than that. But our team, everyone in the Bob and Brad team, gave me this. They're wonderful gifts. And anyways, happy birthday, and I hope I have fun.
Mike: I didn't know we were the same age, Brad. But anyway, after trying those three tests out, if any of them recreate pain or make things worse, that is a sign you may have a rotator cuff tear, but it's important to go to your doctor and visit them. They'll probably schedule an MRI for you, and you will know conclusively if that's what it is or not. Now we wanna talk about when surgery may or may not be necessary. So first, we're going to talk about whether you may not need surgery. What are some signs?
Brad: Well, if you just have a partial tear, in other words, the rotator cuff, one or two of the muscles may just have some micro tears. They're not fully ruptured. And oftentimes, if you treat those properly, you can get them to heal and gradually strengthen them back to full strength and have a complete recovery.
Mike: Yeah, things like physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medicines, rest, and medications or steroid injections may help if you just have a partial tear. We've actually worked with people who just had partial tears, did some therapy, and they were back to normal.
Brad: Right, and I've done it with myself. So the other thing is age and activity level. So for example, if maybe you're older, and you're just not an active person, the most you do is wash dishes and maybe reach up and get a glass out of the cupboard, you may not have to worry about a full recovery, so that you're, in comparison if you're playing ball and throwing a ball or playing pickle ball.
Mike: Yeah, so try any of those things that we mentioned before. If you just have a partial tear or if you're not as active, you may not need to have surgery. Now, when surgery is necessary, the first thing is whether you have a large or degenerative tear. Some people even have a full tear. You are gonna need to have surgery because your shoulder is not going to function normally at all.
Brad: Right, I can just tell you, if you're like this, and you try to lift your arm, and this is what you're doing, that's a good sign that you got a significant tear.
Brad: Don't jump to conclusions. You're going to need to see a doctor or therapist, and do some testing on it to confirm it. But that oftentimes is, you know, very painful and more likely to cause a tear.
Mike: And now, another time surgery may be needed. If you go through and do injections in your shoulder, you do the physical therapy for a few weeks, and nothing is helping, it's not functioning right. You're probably going to need surgery. It's probably too far gone, you could say, in quotations. And the last thing is, if you are very active, if you are younger and an athlete, and you need your shoulder for high-demanding stress, whatever sport you're in, you're going to want to get it functioning normally and full strength because over time it's just going to get worse and worse.
Brad: But what if you're a little older and active, then you'll.
Mike: That's also important if you want to have good functionality, maybe you're in your 60s and.
Brad: We want to keep the geriatric population satisfied.
Mike: And you do triathlons, and you swim, maybe you want your shoulder functioning. So it all depends upon, you know, how much you use it and how painful or how much motion you really get back.
Brad: Right, lifting up your grandkids, those types of things.
Mike: There you go.
Brad: So very good. Also, go to Bob and Brad on YouTube. We have a lot of exercises for rotator cuff strengthening. We have one right here. It's linked. What is it?
Mike: "3 Best Rotator Cuff Exercises To STOP Shoulder Pain." This one actually shows some things you can do. And if you like this video, make sure to subscribe.
Brad: Yeah, subscribe. Subscribe to Bob and Brad. We are the most famous physical therapists on the internet, with Mike helping out and doing a wonderful job.
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