West Chester, Ohio, USA, is a town that takes great pride in its medical facilities. There are wonderful sports medicine facilities in the city that can help you with many issues, including a rotator cuff tear. You will need the services of an orthopedic surgeon if you have a rotator cuff tear in West Chester. A rotator cuff tear is a common form of injury that can occur in any four tendons that make up this part of the shoulder. Rotator cuff tears are prevalent, and while they generally don’t pose a serious threat to life, you should get checked out by a doctor if you have them.
Rupture of the rotator cuff muscles or tendons is a common injury among athletes, laborers, and people who work out in gyms. It generally occurs due to direct impact on the shoulder or indirect stress over time, which affects your rotator cuff muscles and tendons.
If you have a rotator cuff injury, you will have the following treatment options:
Ice Therapy
From the moment you injure your rotator cuff, ice therapy is essential. Also known as cryotherapy, it involves applying different forms of cold therapy to the affected shoulder. Ice therapy regulates blood flow and reduces pain in the rotator cuff. There are two types of ice therapies that you can try- cold compression therapy and cold gel therapy. While cold compression therapy involves using a bag of ice and a towel to wrap around your shoulder, cold gel therapy consists of applying gel packs to the affected area.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is vital for rotator cuff injuries. It involves a series of exercises to strengthen the muscles around the shoulder joint that improve tissue quality in your shoulder, its range of motion, and prevent joint stiffness. The physical therapist who works with you might also use electrotherapy if they feel the need to apply electrodes to your shoulder, which will help stimulate muscle growth in the rotator cuff tendons.
Steroid Injections
If your orthopedic doctor feels that the rotator cuff tear is small and will heal on its own, they may prescribe a series of steroid injections to quickly relieve pain and inflammation in the affected area. These are meant to be used only in the short term, so you should not expect them to solve your long-term problem.
Surgery
You will likely need surgery if you damage your rotator cuff muscles or tendons. The type of surgery you’ll need will depend on the severity of your injury and how much of the rotator cuff is damaged. There are two primary forms of surgery to repair shoulder injuries – open shoulder repair and arthroscopic shoulder repair. The former will involve an incision on the front of your shoulder, and the latter will be performed with the help of a camera-equipped device that can see inside your shoulder joint.
If you have a rotator cuff tear, you must treat it correctly. Do not ignore the problem or attempt to work through the pain because this could aggravate your shoulder even more and lead to long-term problems. You should contact an orthopedic surgeon immediately if you’ve injured your rotator cuff so they can tell you how best to recover from your injury.
