Dr. Joshua John-Ram SchacterDr. Joshua Schacter, DO FAAOS, is America’s Holistic Orthopedic Surgeon, with nearly two decades of surgical expertise.

When do you need surgery for a rotator cuff tear?

22 Oct 2023 · 1 min

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Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter explains that surgery for a rotator cuff tear is typically needed when the tendon completely detaches from bone and causes paralysis, especially in younger patients. Older patients often do well with physical therapy alone. Orthobiologic treatments like PRP or stem cell injections can reduce inflammation but won't reliably heal the tear by themselves.

Questions this video answers

A tear that is detached from the bone.

Not being able to lift the arm above typically 90 degrees.

Chapters

What are some signs that your rotator cuff may require surgery? Well, if you've had an injury and you have a rotator cuff tear and it is a complete rotator cuff tear, meaning that it is detached from the bone and you have what we call rotator cuff paralysis, which means that you can't lift your arm above typically 90 degrees, then that may very well require surgery. Now in some cases in older patients, we can treat those non operatively with physical therapy and we can get great outcomes. Here's a great place for orthobiologics treatments. PRP or stem cell treatments can lessen the amount of inflammation. They can make the tissue healthier. They won't necessarily heal the tear by itself, but they can make it much more functional. But in the younger patient, if you have rotator cuff paralysis, if you're not able to lift your arm because of a large rotator cuff tear, that's typically when we do need to do surgery.