Your rotator cuff consists of four muscles and ligaments that help to balance the shoulder and hold the joint in place. As a result of acute trauma to the shoulder or gradual wear and tear over the years, your rotator cuff can start to weaken and eventually tear as a result of this stress. In fact, many older adults have mild rotator cuff tears and don’t even realize it! While the extent of your rotator cuff symptoms will depend on a variety of factors, one question many of our patients ask is if the rotator cuff can heal on its own after a tear.
Unless the tear is extremely minor, it’s unlikely that a rotator cuff tear will be able to fully heal on its own without surgery. That said, not all rotator cuff tears require surgery. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the standard treatment for rotator cuff tears.
Rotator Cuff Tear Management
If you were hoping that your rotator cuff tear would heal on its own without a surgical operation, we hate to be the bearer of bad news. Because of the nature of the rotator cuff and how a tear tends to develop, it’s rare for it to be able to return to its strongest form without surgery. But as we mentioned above, that doesn’t mean that you’ll always need to undergo an operation to correct your tear.
Many rotator cuff tears are very minor and are the result of repetitive stress that has been put on your shoulder over the course of your life. These microtears to the soft tissues in your rotator cuff and be slightly uncomfortable, but you can help to control symptoms through some conservative techniques. These non-operative treatments will strengthen muscles and other structures in and around the shoulder to help stabilize the joint and take some stress off the rotator cuff so that normal motions aren’t as uncomfortable.
Some common non-operative treatments that will focus on pain management, functional improvements and strength and stability increases include:
- Physical therapy
- Anti-inflammatory medications
- Corticosteroid injections
- Targeted stretching
Most of those techniques are used in combination with one another, but the most effective treatment on that list is physical therapy. You’re much more likely to avoid the need for surgery if you pursue physical therapy to strengthen the area and improve shoulder joint function.
Hopefully these conservative techniques can decrease symptoms and make life with a rotator cuff tear comfortable enough to avoid surgery, but because the tear won’t heal on its own without surgery, there’s always the possibility that the tear could worsen or symptoms could eventually intensify. In these instances, or in cases where the tear occurs in younger adults, surgery is typically the optimal treatment method. Dr. Holloway has performed countless rotator cuff surgeries, and he’s confident that he can help artificially strengthen your rotator cuff so that you can comfortably get back to doing the activities you love.
Contact a Rotator Cuff Surgeon
So while rotator cuff tears will never heal on their own without surgery, you may be able to make symptoms more manageable and avoid a surgical procedure. But if an operation becomes an eventuality, consider reaching out to Dr. Holloway and his team at (865) 410-7887.
