News Health & Medicine

Over 40? Your rotator cuff probably looks a little rough

MRI scans reveal normal, age-related changes in people’s shoulders

A man in a blue shirt stands on an outdoor track stretching his shoulder.

Nearly all adults older than 40 have some sort of rotator cuff abnormality that’s visible via MRI. That’s just normal aging, a new study suggests.

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By Meghan Rosen

After age 40, we may all have busted-looking shoulders. But that doesn’t mean anything is wrong.

In a study of hundreds of people, MRI images showed that nearly every person scanned had frayed, torn or otherwise abnormal rotator cuff tendons, researchers report February 16 in JAMA Internal Medicine.