06/16/2026
Your MRI found a rotator cuff tear.
Great.
So did this study…in a whole bunch of people who had absolutely no shoulder pain.
Researchers reviewed 53 studies looking at asymptomatic shoulders and found rotator cuff abnormalities such as tears, both full and partial, calcifications and tendonopathy everywhere!
Some studies found abnormalities in nearly every shoulder they looked at.
And yet those people weren’t seeking treatment or complaining of pain.
In fact many didn’t even know the findings existed.
This is why we have to stop treating imaging reports like sentences.
Imaging can tell us what’s there.
It can’t tell us what’s hurting.
As therapists, our job isn’t to chase every wrinkle, tear, or degeneration that shows up on an MRI.
Our job is to find what actually reproduces the patient’s symptoms, changes their function, and responds to treatment.
The image is part of the story.
The patient is the story.
Respect tissue.
Don’t worship imaging.
