Diagnosis Process
If you have gone through any of these causes that could have potentially torn your rotator cuff and are experiencing symptoms, it’s important to get it checked out by a medical professional to fully diagnose and understand the extent of it.
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Consult and Examination
A doctor will meet with you to talk through everything leading up to that point. They may ask what happened, where it hurts the most, and what major symptoms you are feeling. They may also have you try to move it around so they can assess your pain and mobility.
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Diagnostic Test
After discussing your condition with a doctor, a diagnostic test will be done. Either an MRI or ultrasound will be done on the injured area. This will help the doctor see if there is a tear and the extent of it. From here, treatment options are discussed that they feel will best suit your specific situation.
Treatment Options
For a partial tear, you can often fully heal after nonsurgical treatments, such as physical therapy. Full tears may require surgery to repair it as best as possible.
Physical Therapy Process
Our physical therapists at Pick PT in Idaho Falls will be with you from start to finish. You can expect the physical therapy process to look something like this:
The first step of the physical therapy process is to assess the state and extent of your rotator cuff injury. We will do this by analyzing pain points, mobility, and strength. We may also work with your doctor to understand your medical history and anything else that might factor into your recovery.
After assessing your symptoms and degree of injury, we will come up with a personalized plan. This can consist of how many times a week you need physical therapy, certain manual techniques to use, and exercises to focus on.
After coming up with a plan, manual therapy is introduced. We want to reduce any pain or swelling before jumping right into exercises. During this stage, you may use heat or ice therapy and electric stimulation to bring those symptoms down before adding exercises in.
After focusing on pain management, exercises are introduced. Gentle mobility exercises will be worked on first, focusing on increasing the range of motion in your shoulder. After that, strengthening exercises are performed. These exercises will help prevent the shoulder from becoming too loose after developing a range of motion. They will help build up the present muscle weakness.
When you have regained strength and mobility in your rotator cuff muscles, it is important to use them correctly in everyday life to prevent re-injury. Our physical therapists will educate you on best practices when resuming your regular activities to maintain good health in your shoulder.
Surgeries
If the tear is beyond the point of healing from nonsurgical techniques, these surgeries can be done to repair the rotator cuff:
- Arthroscopic Repair: This procedure is done by making small incisions in the shoulder and using an arthroscope (small camera) to see where the repair needs to be made. They will then use specific tools to stitch the tear back together.
- Open Repair: Open repair is more invasive than arthroscopic repair. This is usually done for more complex tears and involves making a larger incision to repair the rotator cuff.
- Full Shoulder Replacement: When the rotator cuff is severely damaged, it may require a full shoulder replacement for full functionality.
Physical Therapy After Surgery
After surgery, physical therapy will be your best friend. It will help you build strength, mobility, and promote holistic healing. Our Pick PT physical therapists will listen to what you need and make sure you are healing safely and correctly. They will also give you good insight on tasks to implement into your daily routine to continue to improve after surgery. This process usually takes about 3-4 months, so it’s important to be patient and improve day by day.
