Rotator Cuff

Is Nonsurgical Treatment for Rotator Cuff Tears a Long-Term Solution?

In today’s modern world, if you’re middle-aged and feel a sudden stabbing pain in your shoulder and then it continues to ache, you get an MRI. If that shoulder study shows a big enough rotator cuff tear, you’re quickly spirited off to surgery. However, what would happen if you never had the surgery? Would it…read more

Shoulder Surgery Complications Caused by Acromioplasty

Shoulder decompression surgery, otherwise known as an acromioplasty, involves removing part the acromioclavicular (AC) joint structures and ligaments from the shoulder and is usually done in conjunction with a rotator cuff repair. The rational is that the bones and ligaments are impinging (pressing) upon the rotator cuff, so the surgeon performs an acromioplasty (cutting the…read more

A Shoulder Stem Cell Procedure 6 Year Follow-up

One of the benefits of being the first physician in the U.S. to use stem cell injections to help orthopedic patients is that every once in a while, an old patient will come back. While we track everyone in a registry, it’s not the same as a patient sitting in front of you telling you…read more

Shoulder Surgery Side Effects: Common Procedure Is Bad News

Old shoulder surgery habits die hard, despite the side effects. This past week I posted the results of a study showing that adding in an acromioplasty surgery to a rotator cuff tear doesn’t help patients. One surgeon who loves the procedure protested that removing the stabilizing ligaments of this part of the shoulder is without…read more

Acromioplasty: Why This Frequent Addition to Rotator Cuff Surgery Is Usually a Bad Idea

Acromioplasty: To Chop a Shoulder or Not Chop a Shoulder…That Is the Question Is acromioplasty a beneficial addition to rotator cuff surgery, and is recovery time impacted by this addition to shoulder surgery? One of the big issues with rotator cuff surgery is the long recovery time spent in an immobilizer brace. Unfortunately, the more procedures…read more

Surgery for Big Rotator Cuff Tears Has High Retear Rates…

Rotator Cuff tears can be tricky. I think to best understand them, you need to ask your self why they happen in the first place. While some result from trauma, the vast majority of rotator cuff tears happen from simple wear and tear as we age.  Why would the most important group of muscles in the shoulder…read more

Are Rotator Cuff Tears a Stem Cell Problem?

Your rotator cuff has stem cells and gets sick when the number of those stem cells wane. That seems to be what a few different studies are telling us including a new one out last month from stem cell pioneer Phillpe Hernigou. The obvious implication being that to make the rotator cuff healthy, you need…read more

The Dirty Little Secret of Rotator Cuff Surgery

You’re middle aged or older and you do something like reaching out too fast, or lifting, or maybe just bracing yourself to prevent a fall and you tear your shoulder rotator cuff. Surgery seems to be the definitive treatment, but recent research on the efficacy of rotator cuff surgery has a dirty little secret that should…read more