Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common injuries in the upper body. Surgery typically produces a 40% rate of success, where the repair remains in tact after 10 years. That is on par with physical therapy to repair and rehabilitate the shoulder. However now, stem cell therapies are making that success rate of recovery sky rocket.
Let's break down the rotator cuff tear, and the procedure for stem cell patching. Essentially, as you can see from the picture, your rotator cuff and more specifically, the acromionclavicular joint, is the smallest muscle and tendon holding your arm to your body. This makes it a fragile joint. And with almost 360 degrees of combined range of motion, it's also one of the most used.
When the muscle tears, the arm is hanging on by a thread. Typical treatment involves strengthening the stabilizers in and around the joint, including the thoracic spine, improving range of motion, and muscle retraining, so it doesn't happen again. This protocol of exercise happens regardless of whether or not you have surgery.
If, based on your particular injury, you and your doctor decide that a surgery is the right fix, sutures affix the anchor hardware--most likely small screws fixed to your humerus--to the tendon holding your muscle in place on top of your shoulder.
In rehab, the problem becomes a lack of blood supply to the tendon. Without a blood supply, tendons are hard to repair--hence the need for surgical intervention. The body needs a systemic method of repair and without a blood supply, it cannot patch problem areas.
Insert stem cells, and the 10 year success rate goes from 44% to 87%. Stem cells signal to the body to rebuild. Harvesting them from a the pelvis allows for more proliferator cells. Proliferator cells dramatically increase the success rate of rotator cuff surgical intervention.
With stem cell surgical therapy, the timeline and protocol for physical therapy and overall rehabilitation dramatically decreases. Your body now has a signal from implanted stem cells to rebuild and "patch" the torn muscle.
If you have any questions about a post-op stem cell therapy rehabilitation program, CoreFitChicago has designed an advanced protocol for rehabilitation that decreases the typical 8 month timeline to 3 months, with proven success. Contact us for more information regarding this exciting new advanced protocol.