What is the best treatment for rotator cuff injury?
Management and Treatment
- An arm sling and rest to give your shoulder time to heal.
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to minimize pain and swelling.
- Physical therapy to learn strengthening and stretching exercises.
- Steroid injections to ease pain and swelling.
What is the first line treatment for rotator cuff tears?
The initial treatment for rotator cuff injuries involves pain control and relative rest. Adequate pain management is typically achieved with anti-inflammatory medications or cortisone injections. The patient may need to wear a brace or sling to limit shoulder movement.
What does positive drop arm test mean?
Severe pain or inability of the patient to return the arm to the side slowly indicates a positive test result. A positive result indicates a rotator cuff tear.
Should I stretch a rotator cuff injury?
Rotator cuff stretches You can start this exercise almost immediately. As your rotator cuff tendonitis improves, physical therapy with stretching and muscle-strengthening exercises becomes important. A physical therapist can help you with these exercises, but most of them you can also do on your own.
Is ice or heat better for torn rotator cuff?
The doctors and physiotherapists advise the patients to use ice packs on the affected area. It is an effective treatment procedure and should be practiced at least three times a day if you have a rotator cuff injury.
What does negative drop arm test indicate?
The test is negative if the patient is able to control the lowering of the arm slowly and without their symptoms occurring.
What is the best test for rotator cuff tear?
The drop arm test is used to assess for full thickness rotator cuff tears, particularly of the supraspinatus. This can be useful when diagnosing sub-acromial pain syndrome (shoulder impingment) or to differentiate between shoulder and rotator cuff pathologies.
What is a drop arm test for shoulder pain?
A possible rotator cuff tear can be evaluated with the drop-arm test. This test is performed by passively abducting the patient’s shoulder, then observing as the patient slowly lowers the arm to the waist. Often, the arm will drop to the side if the patient has a rotator cuff tear or supraspinatus dysfunction.