 [ Symptoms ] rotator cuff injury i believe that is what i have i have been suffering from left shoulder pain for a while and it is gotten to the point that if i move my arm a certain way it feels like a knife is going through it i cannot lie on it but for a few minuets and then im in pain i can move my arm forward with very limited pain but any other direction i cannot without sever pain does this sound like a rotator cuff tear [ Disease ] you cannot accurately diagnose a rotator cuff tear by symptoms alone and certainly not as a self diagnosis even your doctor may have difficulty unless an mri is ordered take it from someone who had a rotator cuff tear you need to see a good orthopedist and probably need to have imaging studies like an mri i think you should take rods advice hon i too had rotator cuff repair bicep and then cuff again when the dr did the cuff repair the first time he said that the bicep was only torn about 8  so he thought it would mend itself 5 months later took an mri and the bicep was torn by 65 so i went in for bicep surgery 5 months later another mri because i was still in pain needed rotator cuff repair again and trigger finger release surgery this last time my shoulder felt great a week after surgery but my finger was in pain and just did not feel right unfortunately i had a back pain and jerked my shoulder just a little bit which started pain in my armshoulder once again went back to the dr he gave me antiinflammatory cream to put on my finger and shoulder made an appt for 6 wks and sent me on my way i had this last appt got tired of waiting 115 min later so i tried to get a new dr     they all keep saying they can not help me try going to the university hospital so this is where i am at i guess what i am trying to say is that you definitely need a dr to look at it and if what your dr prescribes is not working or if he decides you need surgery   get a second opinion