Research and News
Posts tagged rotator cuff tear
Rotator cuff patients benefit from Thera-Band exercises
Jun 29th
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Rotator cuff disease is the most common cause of shoulder pain in primary care (Ostor et al. 2005) and includes diagnoses such as bursitis, impingement, and rotator cuff tendinosis. Several studies featured in the Academy Blog have described how effective Thera-Band® exercises are in treating shoulder conditions, particularly when combined with manual therapy.
Researchers in Australia completed an extensive study on patients with rotator cuff disease over 3 ½ years and published their findings in the British Medical Journal. 120 patients in Melbourne meeting eligibility criteria were randomly assigned to either a home exercise and manual therapy or a placebo-controlled group receiving only sham ultrasound. 14 experienced physiotherapists at 12 centers were trained to provide both interventions.
The intervention program was published in a separate paper in 2007. Download their protocol here. The exercise and manual therapy group received 10 sessions of individualized standard treatment over 10 weeks including a twice-daily home exercise program with Thera-Band exercise bands. At the end of the first 10 weeks, there was no significant difference in pain or function between the experimental and control groups; they both significantly improved.
They More >
Early Thera-Band® strengthening for rotator cuff tear repair may speed recovery
Feb 3rd
The rotator cuff is crucial for proper function of the shoulder and activities of daily living (ADL). Full-thickness rotator cuff tears require surgical repair and a lengthy recovery, often lasting 6 months or more. Early physical therapy exercises are very conservative, focusing more on allowing the repair to heal. For fear of re-injury, dynamic resistance exercise is sometimes avoided for the first 4 months post-op. Swedish researchers investigated if accelerated rehabilitation after full-thickness rotator cuff tear surgery was safe and beneficial. In their prospective, randomized and controlled trial, one group of 7 patients underwent traditional physical therapy, while another group of 7 patients performed accelerated physical therapy, utilizing dynamic elastic resistance earlier in the rehabilitation protocol. Patients in the accelerated group removed their slings after 4 weeks to begin gentle motion and early strengthening against aquatic resistance. They also initiated elastic resisted internal rotation and external rotation at 8 weeks. Both groups received clinical and home exercise programs. The researchers concluded that the accelerated group had slightly faster recovery than traditional therapy without any adverse effects. While these results are encouraging, further research with more subjects is obviously needed.
Klintberg IH, et al. Early loading in physiotherapy treatment after full-thickness rotator cuff repair: a prospective randomized More >
