Rotator Cuff Injury treatment, test & risk factors

In this video SimpliHealth expert in Orthopaedics Dr. M.S Narula is talking about rotator cuff injury treatment, test & risk factors. Also he is answering some very common questions that people usually ask like:

• When do we go to see the doctor?
• When are its tests done? 
• What are the risk factors of rotator cuff injury?

Its symptoms are similar to those of other diseases. The first question is when do you need to go to the doctor as you feel that you are getting a lot of pain. or who is not going to take a week’s rest with yeh normal pain reliever. Your pain is going inside the branch then movement becomes very limited in which you are not able to do a special activity, it is because your muscles are too weak. In this condition, as per our experts you must definitely consult your orthopaedic doctor. He will tell you the ways to treat and manage it.

Rotator cuff injury treatment

Treatment of the rotator cuff depends on whether the type of injury is acute or repetitive overuse, a repetitive injury, or a degenerative injury. 

In an acute injury, we are told to take a rest in the initial period so that the hand is placed inside the sling work up to 4-6 weeks from work. When we talk about physiotherapy doctors mean by doing exercises the muscles get stronger. 

Rotator cuff injury exercises

Exercise helps to increase the range of motion of the shoulder muscles. Then there are some special stretching exercises that your physiotherapist will do for you which assist you to exercise. Exercise with elastic bands is the backbone of this therapy. That’s why physiotherapy is the backbone of the treatment of rotator cuff injury. Therefore physiotherapy and stretching are the backbones of rotator cuff injury treatment. Most of the time people respond to this treatment. Depending on how chronic the pain is, we can apply ice packs or heat, this will help in reducing the swelling around the shoulder muscles. 

The fourth option is the use of injections. For injections let me tell you a little Steroids Corticosteroids injection injected into the shoulder joint to reduce pain and swelling. So you can fix it with exercise, 80% of people get better after two or three injections. Of course in a final treatment, there are surgical options that the doctor will discuss with you first.

Rotator cuff surgery

There are some specific signs of its bad for which we recommend surgery. When to tell your doctor to have surgery. Always remember that 80% of the population does not require surgical treatment for a rotator cuff injury to the shoulder. Many people ask me can I be healed on my own? The answer is no. 

The tendons inside the rotator cuff do not contain blood, so they do not heal on their own. 80% of people manage with non-operative treatment. Only 20% require surgery. 

When do you need surgery? 

You have taken pain relievers, physiotherapy for six months but still, you are not seeing any results. In this case, we use surgical treatment. Like if you are a professional athlete and you have to do any movement which you are not able to do here again there is an acute injury, a very big tear, you have fallen suddenly..Here again, there is an acute injury, there is a very big tear, it has fallen suddenly and you have become very big on the carriage instead of old or degenerative tears Like I told earlier, the tendons that are attached to the muscles in the rotator cuff tear, so what do we do?

Its results are very good in a young patient who has chronic and degenerative tears, more so in elderly patients in that the results of surgery are not so good so we use first pain reliever and exercise physiotherapy in their case. The second treatment is debridement therapy where small broken pieces of tendons are removed surgically.