As a ball socket joint, the shoulder needs a series of muscles and tendons to keep it stabilized and movable. These muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint, connecting the upper arm to the shoulder blade, is collectively called the rotator cuff. These muscles and tendons are what keep your shoulder joint in place and allow for movement of the shoulder.
The rotator cuff can become injured and eventually torn due to injury, chronic overuse, and gradual degradation due to aging. For example, an overuse rotator cuff injury or tear may result after years of playing the pitching position in baseball. When muscles and tendons become weak due to overuse, other muscles and tendons must compensate, causing continual increased stress on the shoulder. Common rotator cuff injuries include the following:
Tendonitis: pain caused by inflammation of a tendon, commonly due to overuse.
Impingement: pain caused when a tendon becomes compressed between bones.
Frozen shoulder: painful and stiff shoulder caused by adhesion and inflammation.
Subacromial bursitis: impingement of the shoulder bursa between tendons.
Rotator Cuff Tear: pain and weakness due to torn tendon(s) within the rotator cuff.
Dr. Kovack has introduced a new rotator cuff injury solution to his central Ohio practice. Have you been avoiding corrective shoulder surgery due to the invasiveness of the surgery and the lengthy recovery times? Dr. Kovack now offers arthroscopic shoulder surgery for the placement of the Rotation Medical Rotator Cuff Bio-inductive Implant. This collagen-based patch goes further than the outdated rotator cuff solutions used up until this point by addressing BOTH the weak biomechanical structures of the rotator cuff AND the deficient tissues by promoting the growth of new, tendon-like tissue.
