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Suggest Remedies For A Rotator Cuff Tear
Question: I have an 85 ton 90% tear in my rotator cuff. Have done about ten weeks of PT and have seen improvement. Tried cortisone shot with no success. Without surgery and discontinuing PT will I retain the progress made or will it revert to original state of low range of motion and pain.
Brief Answer:
Will retain the progress to some extent
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting the question.
I have gone through your medical history in detail.
Its good that you are trying to avoid surgery and concentrating more on PT and other non-surgical measures.
If you feel that the improvement that you have achieved till date is good enough,then discontinuing PT won't revert to original state of low range of motion and pain as long as you take proper care and do not do any strenous work by the affected limb. But the chances of 100 % recovery are less with non-surgical means and some shoulder pain and weakness is bound to remain forever.
Considering that you have almost 90% tear,not having the tear repaired surgically can lead to long term side effects like loss of motion,stiffness and shoulder joint arthritis,impingement syndromes etc.
I have seen patients at my clinic with similar tears doing well with PT and shoulder exercises.But we have found better results when we combine a surgical repair of the tear with a post-operative agressive PT rehabilitation programme.
Unless you have a significant contra-indication for surgery,my choice of treatment will be "Arthoscopic repair of the tear followed by PT".
"Earlier the surgery-better the results"
You can do a repeat MRI now and compare it with the initial one to assess the healing process of the tear.
I hope the answer was useful.
Feel free to ask me any further doubts that you may have.
Thank you.
Kind regards
Will retain the progress to some extent
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting the question.
I have gone through your medical history in detail.
Its good that you are trying to avoid surgery and concentrating more on PT and other non-surgical measures.
If you feel that the improvement that you have achieved till date is good enough,then discontinuing PT won't revert to original state of low range of motion and pain as long as you take proper care and do not do any strenous work by the affected limb. But the chances of 100 % recovery are less with non-surgical means and some shoulder pain and weakness is bound to remain forever.
Considering that you have almost 90% tear,not having the tear repaired surgically can lead to long term side effects like loss of motion,stiffness and shoulder joint arthritis,impingement syndromes etc.
I have seen patients at my clinic with similar tears doing well with PT and shoulder exercises.But we have found better results when we combine a surgical repair of the tear with a post-operative agressive PT rehabilitation programme.
Unless you have a significant contra-indication for surgery,my choice of treatment will be "Arthoscopic repair of the tear followed by PT".
"Earlier the surgery-better the results"
You can do a repeat MRI now and compare it with the initial one to assess the healing process of the tear.
I hope the answer was useful.
Feel free to ask me any further doubts that you may have.
Thank you.
Kind regards
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Remy Koshy
Answered by
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