Rotator Cuff Surgery Rehabilitation

 

 Each year, over 200,000 Americans have surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and an additional 400,000 have surgery for related tendonitis or partial tear repairs.  Your arm is kept in your shoulder socket by your rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a network of four muscles that come together as tendons to form a covering around the head of the humerus, or upper arm bone. The rotator cuff attaches the humerus to the shoulder blade and helps to lift and rotate your arm.

There is a lubricating sac called a bursa between the rotator cuff and the bone on top of your shoulder (acromion). The bursa allows the rotator cuff tendons to glide freely when you move your arm. When the rotator cuff tendons are injured or damaged, this bursa can also become inflamed and painful. 

It is important to have proper pre and post operative rehabilitation to retain the best range of motion and mobility for a pain free life.  Unfortunately, some studies are showing numbers close to 94% failure rates of post-surgical pain after rotator cuff repair. 

A study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics followed a group of patients placed under chiropractic care 6 weeks post rotator cuff surgery.  These patients received thoracic spinal adjustments (manipulations) for 6 weeks.  A form of ultrasound imaging called echography was used to measure active shoulder flexion and abduction mobility.  All patients were noted to have increased range of motion after receiving chiropractic care.  Research shows that there is an intricate relationship between the thoracic spine and shoulder, as well as the upper cervical neck and shoulder that leads to believe a well-adjusted spine is crucial in proper healing following rotator cuff surgery.  

Our office has the expertise to deliver gentle, safe, effective chiropractic treatments to post-surgical patients.  Having your spine adjusted post surgery can help your body recover to live a pain-free life!

Yours in Health,

Dr. Nicholas J. Knutson

Owner/Doctor

MOUNTAIN ISLAND CHIROPRACTIC

10917 Black Dog Ln., Suite 101 

Charlotte, NC 28214

Tel (704) 394-8556

Fax (704) 395-8556

mtnislandchiro.com

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special." JV


Belon-Perez, P., &Cuesta-Vargas, A.I. (2018). Immediate Effects of Thoracic Spine Manipulation Upon Shoulder Functionality in Patients With Sutured Rotator Cuff Repair:A Prospective Study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 41(7). 589-595. doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2018.02.005