What is the Rotator Cuff?
The rotator cuff consists of 4 different primary muscles. The four muscles are the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subcapularis. These muscles are the primary movers for rotation of the shoulder and raising your arm out to the side as well as for stabilizing the shoulder inside of the joint. Because of the purpose of these muscles they can be very susceptible to tears or injuries sometimes requiring surgery.
Rotator Cuff Surgery
Surgical interventions vary depending on the degree of the tear. If there is a small tear present in the musculature most surgeons will recommend PT intervention first to see if the pain and strength can be managed due to it being a small tear. For larger or complete tears of the rotator cuff surgical intervention is going to most likely be required to correct the issue.
Depending on the grade of the tear the recovery timeline changes for small/medium tears compared to large/massive tears. For a small/medium repair you will generally be looking at anywhere from 10-14 weeks of PT and 5-6 months before returning to sport based activities. For Large/Massive tears you will be looking at 3-4 months of rehab with 5-6 months still being a Return to sport timeline but the difference is you have to wait longer to begin rotator cuff strengthening with a large to massive tear vs. a small to medium size as well as actively being able to move the arm
When should I start PT and What will I be doing?
If you had a repair of small/medium tear PT is generally started at the 2 week mark post op. For Large/Massive tears the general timeframe to begin PT is the 4-5 week mark post op due to it being a longer time frame for healing.
With PT initial stages will begin with passive range of the shoulder working into the different ranges primarily flexion and external rotation. As you get further out from surgery the other ranges of motion will start to be worked into as well as strengthening of all of the musculature to help stabilize the joint.
