Check out the Prolotherapy page for more information on how prolotherapy can help your rotator cuff injury and where you can get prolotherapy performed in Tulsa, OK.
Ok, so your shoulder hurts. It is a common issue and we hear the stories every day. There are lots of reasons why your shoulder may hurt and rotator cuff injuries are only one of the many reasons your shoulder may have pain.
At Revolution Health & Wellness Clinic we use a different approach to get our patients back to full function without pain and we usually achieve these goals without surgery!
It is important to understand what is going on with the rotator cuff injury or rotator cuff tear so that prolotherapy makes more sense for this cause of shoulder pain.
What is the Rotator Cuff?
The shoulder joint is a ball and socket type of joint just like the hip. However, you’ll notice that the shoulder has a lot more range of motion than the hip. The ability for your shoulder to move like it does requires a different anatomy. The socket isn’t much of a socket really. This is one reason you can move your arm like you can.
This range of motion comes at a cost though. We lose some stability in the shoulder joint in order to achieve this increased functionality. Something has to try to hold that shoulder together.
Enter the rotator cuff
The rotator cuff is composed of 4 tendons which help hold the shoulder together. Many medical professionals call these tendons (attached to muscles) the SITS muscles:
- Supraspinatus
- Infraspinatus
- Teres minor
- Subscapularis
Each of these tendons provides additional support and structure to the shoulder while allowing this increased motion. However, these tendons are prone to damage and tearing due to the strain often placed on them.
The typical story is that your shoulder starts hurting. Sometimes it is due to a specific injury and sometimes your shoulder just starts hurting. Regardless, you go to your doctor who takes a look at it. You may get a steroid shot. Sometimes that helps and sometimes it doesn’t. If you don’t get better you may be sent to physical therapy or to an orthopedic surgeon. Sometimes you get an MRI. Yet your shoulder still hurts.
What is the deal with the rotator cuff and why does it hurt?
The rotator cuff is made of tendons as explained above. These tendons are very densely innervated with nerves. I talk more about this on the ‘How does prolotherapy work?‘ page.
When these tendons are damaged it irritates the nerves which are very sensitive to pressure and stretching. Sometimes this damage is due to a partial or a full thickness tear. Sometimes it is simply irritation of the tendons themselves.
It could be damage to any of the rotator cuff tendons that is causing the symptoms. Fixing the shoulder pain requires addressing all of the damage. Prolotherapy is very good at doing that. It is a very comprehensive procedure.
Prolotherapy is specifically designed to stimulate the healing process for these rotator cuff tendons. Animal studies have shown that prolotherapy can make the tendon 40% thicker and 50% stronger than it was.
That is great news for a condition that is due to tendon damage.
If you have shoulder pain or a rotator cuff tear or rotator cuff injury then you should strongly consider prolotherapy.
There is minimal risk. It is cost effective (>90% success rate in our clinic), simple, and well tolerated. Plus, there is no down time or recovery after the procedure. You don’t even have to take time off!
So what are you waiting for? Call our clinic so we can get you on the path to healing that damaged rotator cuff.
Here are a couple of people who wanted to share their story with their shoulder pain:
