Teres minor muscle: A muscle that assists the lifting of the arm during outward turning (external rotation) of the arm. The tendon of the teres minor muscle is one of four tendons that stabilize the shoulder joint and constitute the rotator cuff. Each of these four tendons hooks up to a muscle that the shoulder in a specific direction. The four muscles whose tendons form the rotator cuff are: - The teres minor muscle;
- The infraspinatus muscle, which (like the teres minor) helps in the outward turning (external rotation) of the arm.
- The supraspinatus muscle which is responsible for elevating the arm and moving it away from the body; and
- The subscapularis muscle, which moves the arm by turning it inward (internal rotation).
Damage to the rotator cuff is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. The term "teres" means "smooth and round" or "cylindrical" in Latin. The teres minor muscle was given that name because it was round and smaller than another round muscle which naturally came to be known as the teres major muscle. In anatomy, wherever there is a minor, there is a major.
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