Rotator Cuff Repair Surgeon in Northern Indiana

Who Needs Rotator Cuff Repair?

If you’ve been diagnosed with a torn or injured rotator cuff, you’re probably looking into types of rotator cuff repair. When you injure your rotator cuff, you’re injuring the tendons and muscles that allow you to rotate, lift, and move your arms. While minor injuries to the rotator cuff can improve with physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medication, moderate to severe injuries may require rotator cuff repair.

What Makes Up Rotator Cuff Repair?

Rotator cuff repair is a surgical intervention that repairs the damaged or torn tendons of the rotator cuff muscles with the aim of improving your shoulder function while alleviating pain and preventing further injury.

Who Needs Rotator Cuff Repair?

Your orthopedist's decision to recommend rotator cuff repair surgery depends on the severity of the tear, your age, activity level, and symptoms like weakness, pain, and limited range of motion. Common indicators for rotator cuff repair candidates include:

Full-Thickness Tears: Rotator cuff repair surgery is recommended when the tendon is entirely torn from the bone
Partial-Thickness Tears: This type of tear indicates that the tendon is still partially attached to the bone. Some partial-thickness tears may require surgery depending on the extent and location of the tear.
No Response to Conservative Treatment: When non-surgical interventions such as physical therapy, resting the joint, and medication don’t provide reasonable relief, your orthopedist may recommend rotator cuff repair.

What Are the Options for Rotator Cuff Repair?

Rotator cuff repair surgery type depends on the size, age, and location of the tear. Rotator repair options include:

Open Repair: Open repair is a traditional method that involves making a large incision in the shoulder to access and repair the torn tendon, typically reserved for larger tears and complex cases. Open repair has a six-month recovery period.
Mini-Open Repair: Mini-open repair is a combination of open repair and arthroscopic repair that utilizes a less invasive approach, with smaller incisions to reach the torn tendon.
Arthroscopic Repair: This is a minimally invasive technique that uses a guided camera and small incisions to repair the torn rotator cuff and leads to quicker recovery times.
Shoulder Replacement Surgery: There are different types of shoulder replacement procedures including total, partial, and reverse shoulder replacement, each component and surgical technique depending on the surgeon’s assessment of the extent of the joint damage.

What kind of surgery you undergo depends on the surgeon’s assessment, diagnosis, and recommendation of your situation, taking lifestyle, overall health, and recovery time into consideration.

Rotator Cuff Repair Recovery

Recovery from rotator cuff repair is a crucial part of regaining your shoulder function and relieving pain. Patients recovering from rotator cuff repair will need to wear a sling and avoid activities that strain the injured rotator cuff. As your recovery continues, you’ll add physical therapy gradually to improve strength and range of motion, and encourage healing.

Rotator Cuff Repair in Michiana

At OSMC our skilled orthopedic specialists are here to provide expert evaluation and diagnosis for rotator cuff repair in Michiana. The caring and expert staff at OSMC can provide a personalized treatment plan that helps you regain your quality of life.

For more information, give us a call or schedule an appointment online with one of our neck and spine specialists. Our orthopedic clinic has multiple locations. We serve patients in Elkhart, IN, Goshen, IN, Granger, IN, Middlebury, IN, and Nappanee, IN. We also have two walk-in orthopedic clinics.