Patrick DenardDirector Oregon Shoulder Fellowship at Oregon Shoulder Institute

Rotator Cuff: What Night Pain Means

23 Oct 2026 · 0 min

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In this segment, Patrick Denard explains that night pain—waking up due to shoulder discomfort—is a common but nonspecific symptom of shoulder problems. While it can occur with tendonitis and bursitis, its presence simply indicates an issue in the shoulder, often involving the rotator cuff, but it does not confirm a rotator cuff tear.

So the first sign, which is really not very specific, is night pain. You can't sleep on your shoulder, it wakes you up at night, but it's common with tendonitis and bursitis too. So it's not very specific, it just says that you have shoulder pain. In other words, night pain tells me there's something wrong with your shoulder, and often it's the rotator cuff, but it doesn't tell me if your rotator cuff is torn.