Rotator cuff tear is a common shoulder injury among those who use their shoulder frequently. A rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons that stabilizes and helps to rotate our shoulders. We use the rotator cuff muscles for pulling something or lifting our arms over our heads. A sudden, unexpected injury in the rotator cuff is quite common, which leads to tears, strains, tendinitis and bursitis. Activities that involve excessive repeated, overhead movements can cause rotator cuff injury. This injury leads to pain in the shoulder, which often worsens while lying on the injured side. The risk of having a rotator cuff injury increases with age. The associated complications include permanent stiffness or weakness and progressive degeneration of the shoulder joint. A partial tear may become complete if left untreated.
Causes of rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff tear can be partial or complete depending upon the severity of the injury. The common causes for the rotator cuff tear can be -
- Overuse of the rotator cuff, which can lead to tendinitis, causing inflammation of the rotator cuff. People who play tennis and need to serve overhead and painters who need to stretch their hands upward for painting, commonly experience this injury.
- Inflammation of the bursa (fluid-filled sacs in the rotator cuff that help with motion) causes bursitis. Degenerative damage can lead to this type of injury.
- Overuse of rotator cuff or some acute injury can lead to strains or tears in the rotator cuff. This injury involves partial or complete overstretching or tear of tendons (that connect muscles to bones). Said type of injury is common for baseball pitchers who need to use the rotator cuff frequently for throwing the ball. Untreated tendinitis can be responsible for these types of injuries also.
- Strain or tear of the rotator cuff can result from a fall, a car accident or sudden injury. These types of injuries are typically associated with intense and immediate pain.
Risk factors can be –
- Increasing age. Rotator cuff tears most commonly happen in people older than 40.
- Certain sports that require regular and repetitive use of arm motions, like baseball, GAA, archery, cricket and tennis, may put the associated players at higher risk of developing a rotator cuff injury.
- Certain occupations, like carpentry or house painting that require repetitive overhead arm motions, can cause damage to the rotator cuff.
- Family history, as the injury has been observed to happen more commonly in certain families.
Symptoms of rotator cuff tear
All the rotator cuff injuries are not associated with pain. It takes months or years for the symptoms to appear after the initial rotator cuff damage.
Common symptoms include:
- Pain and spasm while doing certain activities, that worsens at night
- Difficulty in achieving full range of shoulder motion
- Difficulty to sleep on the affected shoulder
- Stiffness
- Tenderness
- Progressive weakness of the shoulder
- Difficulty to comb hair or to fold the hand behind your back
Treatment of rotator cuff tear
Depending on the type of injury, treatments can range from resting the affected arm to surgery. The non-surgical treatments include R.I.C.E. therapy, physical therapy, consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and corticosteroid injections. All of them aim to reduce pain and inflammation. But they produce only temporary relief. So, if there is no improvement in symptoms, your physician may recommend surgery to treat rotational cuff tear. The primary surgical approaches include arthroscopic repair and shoulder replacement (partial/total) depending upon the severity.
If you have torn rotator cuff, do not think that surgery is the only alternative. Medica Stem Cells Clinic in the UK offers safe and effective non-surgical regenerative treatment to heal the rotator cuff injuries naturally. Regenerative treatments such as PRP therapy, prolotherapy, and stem cell therapy repair the rotator cuff injury and revives the normal function of your shoulder naturally. It enhances recovery within a short period by stimulating your body’s healing mechanism without any side effects. PRP therapy involves the use of blood cells. Similarly, non-surgical stem cell therapy involves your own stem cells. Hence, there is no chance of any rejection or cross-transmission of disease.
For more information about the regenerative treatment for rotator cuff tear, You can also contact Medica Stem Cells clinic in the UK, to learn more about the types of Stem Cell Therapy in UK
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