The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons that converge on the shoulder socket to create a tissue cuff that helps stabilize the shoulder. When healthy, the rotator cuff allows people to lift and rotate their arms.
Unfortunately, the rotator cuff is easily injured, especially for throwing athletes. The tremendous force exerted by a throw or swing can injure or more commonly irritate the cuff, causing pain, inflammation, and disability.
Fewer than 10% of people aged 20 and under develop rotator cuff tears. However, many of those are caused by sports. When your young athlete has a rotator cuff tear (RCT), you may wonder if surgery is your only option. Is it worth trying noninvasive therapies, or does that just extend the timeline of their injury, pain, and inability to play their sport?
Expert orthopedic surgeon and sports specialist David Lintner, MD, at Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Houston, Texas, has many years of experience repairing and restoring RCTs in athletes and non-athletes of all ages. As head team physician for the Houston Astros, he knows the importance of returning to sport (RTS) ASAP.
Is surgery always necessary to repair a rotator cuff tear? It depends.
Most non-athletes don’t need surgery unless they’re in tremendous pain. It may only be partial tears in your rotator cuff due to tissue degeneration over time.
Up to 85% of the time, you may be able to treat a partial RCT noninvasively. We may recommend therapies such as:
If symptoms improve over time, you may gradually return to normal daily activities. However, if symptoms remain the same or worsen over 6-12 months, you may benefit from surgical repair.
Traumatic complete tears can occur in athletes who specialize in throwing or hitting sports that put a great deal of stress on the shoulder and arm. Sports such as jujitsu, MMA, wrestling, and football can also occasionally injure your rotator cuff.
For athletes, a full-thickness tear is uncommon but can occur. That means your tendon cuff has torn away from the bone.
If you aim to return to your sport as soon as possible, surgery is the best option for repairing your rotator cuff. Unfortunately, delaying surgery in the hopes of healing your tear through nonoperative means may only delay your return to play.
In fact, without surgical repair, symptomatic, traumatic RCTs may get progressively worse. One study showed that 47% of tears that weren’t repaired surgically worsened over 19 months. This is different from degenerative tears that occur over time, typically in older patients.
When your kid is an athlete, any time spent on the bench means that they’ve lost time they could have used to have fun and build skills and technique. If conservative treatments haven’t helped, or if your child is eager to RTS, arthroscopic repair might be the best option.
Dr. Lintner is an expert in minimally invasive arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. The surgery requires smaller incisions than traditional open surgery, leading to less trauma, bleeding, and risk of infection. It also shortens recovery time.
In addition, he may use biologics, such as PRP and MSCs, to help your young athlete’s body repair and rebuild the rotator cuff after surgery. He’s also developed extensive rehab protocols to help gradually rebuild strength and power in the shoulder and throwing arm.
A full recovery may take 4-6 months. However, RTS may take longer. The sooner your child repairs their rotator cuff, the sooner they can be back on the field.
Contact Dr. Lintner and our team today for rotator cuff tear repair by phone or online.
If you don’t live in the Houston area, Dr. Lintner is happy to provide a second opinion if you forward him imaging studies of your rotator cuff tear today.
