Rotator Cuff Injury Healing Time

Rotator Cuff Tear is one of the common reasons of why you experience a shoulder pain, and it is usually caused because of a sudden trauma or repetitive microtraumas.

How long does it take to heal?

Depending on the severity of your injury, your Orthopaedic Doctor may recommend you to either go for a surgical or a non- surgical treatment plan. In general, the healing time depends upon:

• The cause of the tear – injury or degeneration

• For how long the tear was left unattended

• The Size of the Rotator Cuff Tear

For non- surgical treatment, your Doctor would prescribe you some anti-inflammatory medications, or, ice compression wraps, painkillers, steroid injections and physical therapy. Non- surgical treatment usually has a success rate of 40- 90%, however, that depends on the severity of the injury and the age of the person.

On the other hand, if you are active, or, if your condition has worsened, your Surgeon would tell you to go for a rotator cuff shoulder surgery. This is usually when even several months of medication and rest haven’t helped you to recover from pain. Surgical recoveries are faster and 94% people experience relief from pain and improved functioning.

Depending on your treatment plan, your cuff may heal completely, get smaller or undergo no change at all. However, in most of the cases when the injury is left unattended, the rotator cuff tear gets bigger with time.

For patients over 60 years of age, the chances of full recovery are usually 1 in 3. If you have large rotator cuff tears, the chances of complete healing may be about 7 in 10, even after a surgery. Fatty infiltration or atrophy can badly affect rotator cuff injuries from healing.

Is Rehabilitation Important?

Even after a shoulder surgery is done, rehabilitation after the treatment is highly recommended. Physiotherapy helps your shoulder muscles to regain strength and functioning, thus helping you to heal faster. Most rotator cuff surgeries require at least 6 months of rehabilitation after the surgery is done. In 90% of the cases, a patient regains full range of motion, functioning and shoulder strength within 12 months of the rotator cuff shoulder surgery.

For faster recovery, you must also ask your Orthopedic Specialist to advise you about taking nutritional supplements. Some of the supplements that will help in faster recovery from a rotator cuff injury are: Bromelain (found in some fruits, such as pineapple), Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Making some lifestyle changes such as resting on the uninjured side, application of ice on the injured shoulder and judiciously following the rehabilitation program, will drastically reduce the time of your recovery.

Quick Fact: In a recent research, it was found that injecting stem cells at the place of injury not only healed the rotator cuff injury but, the rates of re-tear also fell to half when the stem cells were injected after the surgery.

The length of healing time is drastically hampered if you acquire certain risks or complications after the surgery. Such complications include infection, blood clot formation, nerve injury and stiffness. For avoiding such complications, it is of vital importance that you do your surgery from a well-qualified Orthopedic Surgeon.

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