Physiotherapy for Rotator Cuff Tears

Rotator Cuff Injuries are common in situations where the rotator cuff is placed under excessive load, causing the muscle belly or tendon to tear. Most of these tears occur to the Supraspinatus Tendon, however other muscles can be involved.

In younger populations these injuries generally occur following a trauma to the shoulder, such as falling onto your shoulder directly, falling onto an outstretched arm or through your shoulder failing under load during a resistance training activity.

In older populations, rotator cuff tears generally occur when a pre-existing rotator cuff tendinopathy goes untreated for a long period of time. In these situations, poor movement of the shoulder joint overloads the rotator cuff musculature until it eventually tears and fails.

Even in the case of complete ruptures of the rotator cuff, surgery may or may not be required. There must be careful consideration of the location and extent of the rotator cuff tear. But, research now suggests that we can regain normal pain-free function of our shoulder simply by strengthening the unaffected rotator cuff muscles around the injury.

We can expertly assess your rotator cuff tear, apply pain relieving treatments if required and prescribe the appropriate exercises for your recovery.