How physical therapists may help you heal a torn rotator cuff

Torn rotator cuffs are a common cause of shoulder pain for active middle-aged and older adults. Many people tear their rotator cuff while playing a sport like baseball or doing projects around the house. You’re especially likely to tear your rotator cuff if your arms and shoulders aren’t conditioned. It often happens when people don’t warm up before doing activities with their arms stretched above their heads.

A physical therapist can provide natural treatments that support your body’s healing processes to help you recover from a torn rotator cuff. In this blog post, we’ll outline some physical therapy treatments that can help.

How can physical therapy help me heal a torn rotator cuff?

After an in-depth assessment, a physical therapist will create a customized treatment plan based on your experience of your symptoms and some physical tests. Your plan will likely include a few different phases with a combination of passive and active treatments. Passive treatments stimulate deep healing in the soft tissue of your shoulder. Both types of treatment increase blood flow to the area and help increase your range of motion. Active treatments are more about rehabilitating your shoulder and building strength to prevent reinjury.

Your physical therapist may use the following treatments to help you recover from a torn rotator cuff:

• Manual therapy — Manual therapy is a set of hands-on techniques in which the PT uses massage-like movements to mobilize your shoulder joint and soft tissue. 
• Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) — IASTM is kind of like manual therapy. The difference is that your PT will use a set of stainless steel tools to locate scar tissue in your shoulder and rub it away.
• Dry needling — Dry needling stimulates soft tissue deep inside your shoulder to trigger your body’s healing response. The needles are similar to acupuncture needles, but dry needling is more targeted to a specific area than acupuncture. 
• Stretching and strengthening exercises — Your PT will guide you through stretching and strengthening exercises during sessions to mobilize your shoulder and increase your range of motion. They’ll also teach you exercises to do at home between appointments.

Start recovering from your rotator cuff injury at Advent PT

A torn rotator cuff can make it hard to go about your daily routines at work and at home. Rest is an important part of the recovery process, and you may need to alter some of your activities while you’re healing. A physical therapist is a partner who can help you navigate these challenges and provide treatments to help minimize your shoulder pain while you’re recovering. 

Are you ready to find out if physical therapy is right for you? At Advent PT, we create unique treatment plans that support each individual patient’s lifestyle and treatment goals.

Call us or request an appointment today. Let’s talk about treatments that can help relieve your shoulder pain.