This is discussed in this New York Times
article.

http://ozreport.com/docs/Yoga_Based_Maneuver_Effectively_Treats_Rotator.10.pdf

Surgery is often recommended for rotator cuff syndrome (RCS), but
enthusiasm drops off abruptly with massive tears, and in the elderly people. Co-Chrane
studies find little evidence that either conservative or surgical remediation is
entirely successful though each method reports gains. Because RCS is most common
in the elderly people, and massive tears are frequently inoperable, an effective
nonsurgical method is welcome. This study focused on patients with supraspinatus
tears, though other injuries were sometimes present. There is surprisingly
little correlation between postsurgical tendon integrity and clinical
improvement. Physical therapy (PT) generally focuses on scapular stability,
kinesiological, and modality-oriented means of healing. In this article, we
condense these conservative strategies into a single exercise that was
discovered serendipitously and is effective in 30 seconds.

This is a method for working on rotator cuff tears taken from the
article:

Hands are clasped behind head. The same concerted action of triangular forearm
support may be recruited through resisting the horizontal vector generated by
this slanted position.

Verbal Directions for Diagonal Triangular Forearm Support Against a Wall

1. Interlock your fingers, making an equilateral triangle with your forearms as
you place them against a wall.

2. Place the fontanelles in the center of that triangle.

3. Walk away from the wall, so that your torso now slants toward the wall. Some
weight is now on your head.

4. Lower your chest and press your elbows and forearms into the wall, using the
pressure to pull your shoulders far away from the wall.

5. Draw your shoulder blades back, down and apart, still pressing against the
wall with your elbows and forearms. Press your shoulders, but not your head,
away from the wall.

6. Stay like this for 30 seconds.

7. Now come away from the wall and stand up straight.

8. Boldly lift your arms up to vertical. Do not stop at 90 and wait for it to
hurt.

9. Do the same with flexion.

Thanks to Ron Gleason.