re: Anybody dealt with Rotator Cuff issues?

PT here who owns a private practice in New Orleans. You basically have 3 levels of options for it. The first and most conservative is PT, if there is no improvement with that you can try injections, if there is no improvement with that then you consider surgery. Not all tears need surgery, but if you have an MRI that starts saying things like "retraction of supraspinatus tendon" or "full thickness tear" those are generally the kinds of tears you see that need surgery. Not sure where you are located but you may try to find a McKenzie physical therapist in your area to give it a shot. Sometimes you can have a tear in your rotator cuff but your pain is really coming from a joint problem or impingement.

Basically everyone is different and you should try as many things as you can before surgery, especially if you are pretty young.