Your healthcare provider may recommend surgery if you have a complete tear or nonsurgical treatments don’t help a partial tear. You may also have surgery if your job or athletic interests affect the shoulder.
Most rotator cuff surgeries take place arthroscopically through small incisions. The surgery is an outpatient procedure. You go home the same day, but the overall recovery after this surgery is very substantial and can take up to a year or more.
Some tears are not repairable due to the size and/or age of the tear, and may necessitate reverse shoulder replacement, tendon transfer, or a debridement of scar tissue without repair.
During surgery, your healthcare provider:
- Inserts an arthroscope (small camera) through a small incision in your shoulder.
- Refers to images from the arthroscope to perform the procedure.
- Inserts tiny instruments into small incisions in your shoulder to remove bone spurs and reattach the tendon to the upper arm bone.
For a partial tear, your healthcare provider may only need to trim fraying pieces of a partially torn tendon. This debridement procedure keeps the shoulder ball and socket from catching on the tendon and tearing it more.
After surgery, you need to wear a sling to immobilize your arm for four to six weeks. You can then start physical therapy. Most people regain shoulder function and strength within four to six months after surgery, but full recovery may take up to 12-18 months.