Rotator Cuff Tear Injury - Doesn't Always Need Surgery

Just because you have torn your rotator cuff, it does not automatically mean that you are going to need surgery. Rotator cuff injury can occur in a variety of ways and each one can be different depending on how it occurred in the first place.

If you think of the tendons of the rotator cuff as resembling a piece of old tow rope, I say old simply because that's how my rotator cuff felt when I tore it. If you tow too many cars with the rope or allow it to rub against something sharp, it may start to fray, getting worn a bit and consequently weaken.

On the other hand if you try towing something that is too heavy, you will stretch the rope, pulling the fibres apart. Pull away too quickly and put a sudden strain on a tow rope and it might simply snap or come away from the car.

The same can happen to the tendons of the rotator cuff. You can just wear them out with repetitive injury, you can overload them and pull the fibers apart or if you are really unlucky you can end
up snapping them completely.

Virtually all complete tears will require surgery. If you have managed to detach the tendon from the bone you will certainly be looking at surgery to reconnect it.

Fortunately, most or nearly all partial rotator cuff tears can be sorted out without resorting to surgery, providing you take them seriously right from the start and don't try working through them.

A rotator cuff tear, even a small one, can lead to inflammation of the tendons. The inflammation can lead to impingement which basically means that your tendons are getting caught against or pinched by bone every time that you move in a certain way. Lifting your arm above your shoulder will be painful, reaching behind you will be painful, you'll probably find that sleeping is difficult because you can't lie on your injured arm.

Listen to the message that your body is sending because each pain is a sign of further damage being done. You need to rest the shoulder, avoiding any movement that causes pain.

Rotator cuff tear treatment will involve rest to allow the muscle to start healing, combined with treating the inflammation. Try using anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen, if that doesn't work a steroid injection may be called for. You can also treat the rotator cuff injury with ice packs to reduce inflammation.

Once the inflammation has subsided movement will become easier. It will not be perfect straight away and that is where exercise comes in to help to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles and get the shoulder moving again. This will be low resistance exercise aimed at isolating the muscles of the rotator cuff. Using large weights will simply get the major muscles working and either ignore or at worst damage the cuff muscles.

The good news is that, because of that, a lot of these exercises are suitable to be done at home.

Treat a rotator cuff tear properly and you can be back to a pain free shoulder easily and quickly, ignore it and you might as well book surgery straight away.