Patrick Denard explains that about 70% of rotator cuff tear patients improve with physical therapy alone. Conservative treatment strengthens surrounding muscles to compensate for the tear. Most people need six weeks to six months of therapy before surgery becomes necessary.
So let's start with the good news. Not all rotator cuff tears need to be fixed surgically. If you look at the data on physical therapy, about 70% of people will get better with conservative treatment consisting of physical therapy with rotator cuff tears. The mainstay of treatment is physical therapy, and then what you're doing there is you're not healing the tendon actually, you're rehabbing by compensating with these surrounding muscles. Typically, again, we're going to do therapy for a minimum of 6 weeks, but overall, by the time somebody comes in, you're looking at 3 to 6 months of attempted conservative of treatment. If we're not getting better by then, then it's a time of discussing, hey, should we go on to surgery?
