HEALTH
Rotator cuff tears Is surgery the only option?
I
t’s a far too common complaint among active adults: nagging shoulder pain. You can’t quite recall any specific “injury,” but it’s been bugging you for years. You remember it flaring up when you went kayaking a few years back, and it started to hurt again after painting the basement. Then you decided to try some home workouts and felt it again. It always got better on its own in the past, but this time it’s here to stay. It hurts to reach overhead, so you now avoid reaching behind your back, and you definitely can’t sleep on that side. You finally go see your doctor who orders an MRI. The imaging confirms it: you have a rotator cuff tear. Now what? The rotator cuff is a group of four tendons in the shoulder which provide
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stability and allow you to raise and rotate your arm. These tendons can be injured by a traumatic incident but are more commonly damaged due to wear and tear over time. Studies show that rotator cuff tears are often found in asymptomatic individuals. This means that the pain you currently have may not be directly related to your rotator cuff tear and that you may be able to be pain-free despite a known tear. Physical therapy (PT) can be an effective treatment for rotator cuff tears. In small tears, PT has been proven to be as effective as surgery for long-term shoulder function. Additionally, PT intervention has demonstrated effectiveness in decreasing pain and improving function of the shoulder even with complete tendon tears.
Though PT may not “repair” the injured tendon, it can restore shoulder mobility and strengthen muscles around the shoulder joint to decrease pain and get you back to doing the activities you love to do. While some tears will require surgery, physical therapy for a period of 6-12 weeks is recommended prior to deciding on surgical intervention.
Michael Cox (PT, DPT, Cert. DN) is a physical therapist and current facility manager at ORS Holt. He will be the facility manager at ORS West Lansing-Grand Ledge when it opens in November 2020.
