What is the Rotator Cuff?
The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that work together to stabilize and control the shoulder joint as it rotates. A rotator cuff tear is a common cause of pain and disability among adults. In a given year, close to two million people in the United States visit their doctors because of a rotator cuff problem. A torn rotator cuff weakens your shoulder, making even the simplest act of combing your hair or putting on a hat difficult to do.
If you currently suffer from chronic shoulder pain or weakness, don’t delay treatment! Spine Correction Center is here for you. Our highly skilled pain doctors are committed to finding and eliminating the source of your pain.
Rotator Cuff Injury Symptoms
Most often, a rotator cuff injury begins as a dull ache in the shoulder, worsening when you try to sleep or lay on the affected side. Symptoms of a torn rotator cuff usually consist of sudden pain in the shoulder sometimes accompanied by a tearing feeling. This can be severe and may transmit down the arm. In some cases, bruising of the shoulder or upper arm may occur. Rotator cuff injuries limit your range of motion and impact your ability to raise your arm because of pain or weakness.
If left untreated, the pain from your rotator cuff injury can gradually worsen. Eventually, weakness and instability in the shoulder will prohibit you from lifting your arm up to the side or above your head.
Cause of Rotator Cuff Injuries
Malfunctioning rotator cuffs have squeezed tendons that rub against the bone. This action causes damage and irritation to the tendons, leading to inflammation. Over time, the tendons can develop scar tissue, which is weaker and less flexible than normal tendon tissue. Eventually, these weakened tendons can tear.
Rotator cuff injuries occur most often in people who repeatedly perform overhead motions in their jobs or sports. Professions such as painting or carpentry often lead to injuries of the rotator cuff. Sports requiring repetitive, excessive shoulder rotation such as swimming, bowling, pitching in baseball and kayaking can also lead to this condition. The risk of rotator cuff injury also increases naturally as you age.
It takes great force to tear a healthy rotator cuff tendon, but this can happen from a severe fall, accident or while playing sports. Even a simple movement such as lifting a box can cause a rotator cuff tear in an older adult or someone who already has weakened shoulder tendons.
Rotator Cuff Injury Risks
Knowing when to seek medical attention can be hard to determine. Sooner rather than later is advised to make sure you don’t injure yourself further or cause any permanent damage. Spine Correction Center recommends seeking medical attention if:
- Your pain persists for more than two or three days.
- You’re unable to work due to the pain
- You’re unable to reach up or to the side with the affected arm for two or three days.
- You’re unable to move the shoulder or arm at all.
Don’t let the pain of a rotator cuff injury sideline you! We can quickly ascertain the cause of you pain at our Fort Collins clinic and get you back to your regular activities in no time.
Rotator Cuff Treatment Options and Stem Cell Therapy
Many people recover from a rotator cuff injury with physical therapy exercises that improve flexibility and strength of the muscles surrounding the shoulder joint. Severe rotator cuff injuries involving complete tears of the muscle or tendon may require surgical repair.
At Spine Correction Center, we like to exhaust every natural, non-invasive, non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical treatment before we resort to other options. Thanks to recent strides in healthcare and science, alternative rotator cuff procedures are now available that can alleviate your shoulder pain with Stem Cell Therapy. This simple, in-office injection procedure can keep you out of surgery while permanently reducing your pain.
Spine Correction Center is one of the few clinics in the country to offer Amniotic Stem Cells for Stem Cell Therapy. We couple the treatment with rehabilitation (if needed) to correct the reason your joint “wore out” in the first place. Spine Correction Center is integrated with Medical Doctors, Nurse Practitioners and Chiropractic Physicians – dealing with chronic joint pain is what we do!
The Initial Visit
When you arrive for your first visit, a Spine Correction Center team member will spend time with you collecting your patient history. This information helps the team know how significant your rotator cuff problem is and how best to help you. As you get started with a treatment plan for your rotator cuff, we’ll most likely give you some at-home tips as well. We have experience treating rotator cuffs, but we also need you to participate in your care for the best results.
Feel free to read our patient reviews to see what others have said about Spine Correction Center. We’re proud to offer experienced medical care to our Northern Colorado patients and thank you for considering us to help with your rotator cuff injury. Our experienced staff is ready to get you back to the activity levels you desire and on to a pain-free life!
Call for a Free Rotator Cuff Consultation
The Spine Correction Center team is experienced at treating a wide range of injuries in the spine, knees, hips, shoulders, feet, ankles and other joints with modern techniques that help you avoid surgery. To learn more about Stem Cell Therapy, or to schedule your free consultation, please contact us online or call (970) 658-5115 today!
