Rotator cuff injuries can disrupt your daily life, making simple activities like lifting your arm or reaching for objects painful and frustrating. Whether caused by overuse, trauma, or wear and tear, these injuries can significantly impact your mobility and quality of life. For those looking for alternatives to surgery, prolotherapy is an innovative, non-surgical treatment option that may provide relief and promote healing.
Causes of Rotator Cuff Injuries
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons that stabilize your shoulder joint and allow it to move. Unfortunately, its complexity makes it vulnerable to injury. Common causes of rotator cuff injuries include:
Overuse or Repetitive Motion
Activities requiring repeated shoulder movement, such as pitching in baseball, swimming, or painting, can lead to strain and eventual injury.
Trauma or Sudden Injury
Falling on an outstretched hand or directly onto the shoulder can cause acute tears in the rotator cuff.
Degenerative Changes
Age-related wear and tear often result in the thinning or fraying of rotator cuff tendons. This degeneration is more common in individuals over 40.
Poor Posture
Slouching or rounded shoulders can place additional stress on the shoulder joint and its supporting structures, increasing the risk of injury.
Common symptoms of rotator cuff injuries include persistent shoulder pain, weakness, limited range of motion, and difficulty sleeping on the affected side. If left untreated, these injuries can worsen, leading to chronic pain and further complications.
What Is Prolotherapy?
Prolotherapy, or proliferation therapy, is a regenerative medicine technique that involves injecting a solution, often dextrose-based, into the affected area. The goal is to stimulate the body’s natural healing processes by creating a controlled inflammatory response. This response promotes tissue repair and regeneration in damaged or weakened structures, such as tendons and ligaments.
Prolotherapy is particularly appealing for rotator cuff injuries because it is minimally invasive, uses the body’s innate healing capabilities, and can be tailored to address each patient’s unique needs.
How Prolotherapy Helps Treat Rotator Cuff Injuries
Here are some ways prolotherapy aids in the treatment of rotator cuff injuries:
Stimulates Healing
Rotator cuff injuries often heal slowly due to limited blood flow in tendons. The injected prolotherapy solution encourages the body to send growth factors and healing cells to the area, enhancing blood flow and nutrient delivery.
Strengthens Weakened Tissue
Repeated prolotherapy sessions can help strengthen the injured tendons and ligaments, making them more resilient to future stress or injury.
Reduces Pain Over Time
By addressing the underlying cause of the injury, prolotherapy helps decrease pain and improve shoulder function. Many patients notice gradual but consistent improvements after a few sessions.
Avoids Surgery
For individuals seeking alternatives to surgical intervention, prolotherapy provides a non-surgical path to recovery. This treatment can be an excellent option for those with partial tears, overuse injuries, or chronic shoulder pain.
What to Expect During Prolotherapy Treatment
Prolotherapy sessions are relatively straightforward. After assessing your shoulder injury through physical examination and imaging, your physician will:
- Clean the treatment area to ensure sterility.
- Inject the prolotherapy solution directly into the damaged or weakened rotator cuff area using a fine needle.
- Provide post-treatment instructions, which may include rest, avoiding heavy lifting, and incorporating physical therapy to optimize recovery.
Each session takes about 30 to 60 minutes, and patients often require multiple sessions spaced several weeks apart for optimal results. While mild soreness or stiffness in the treated area is common after a session, most people can resume their regular activities shortly after treatment.
Is Prolotherapy Right for You?
Prolotherapy is ideal for individuals with partial rotator cuff tears, chronic shoulder pain, or instability who want to avoid surgery. It’s also suitable for patients who have not responded well to other non-surgical treatments like physical therapy or corticosteroid injections.
However, prolotherapy may not be suitable for complete rotator cuff tears or injuries that require surgical intervention. Consulting with a knowledgeable physician is crucial to determine the best treatment for your unique situation.
Getting Started with Prolotherapy
If rotator cuff pain is interfering with your life, prolotherapy could be the solution you need. With its focus on stimulating natural healing, this treatment offers hope for long-term recovery and improved shoulder function. The skilled physicians at Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine are experienced in using prolotherapy to treat a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions, including rotator cuff injuries.
To learn more or schedule an appointment, call Long Island Spine Rehabilitation Medicine or contact us online for same-day appointments. Relief is closer than you think.