A tear of the rotator cuff in a patient leads to pain and in most
cases a limitation of motion and activity. On average, there are
yearly about 2 million people that seek out and evaluation by a
physician for shoulder or rotator cuff pain. The shoulder is a
ball-and-socket joint. The actual rotator cuff is a group of four
muscles around the arm bone that allows you to lift and rotate your
arm. There is a sack of fluid, called a bursa, in this area. This
bursa may be inflamed or painful when an injury to the rotator cuff
tendons occurs. The tendons of the rotator cuff often become
partially torn with injuries or over-use. This can cause pain and
limitation of motion. Unfortunately, this fraying of the tendons can
result in a complete tear of the tendon when a quick motion is
performed or a heavy object is lifted. At times, a rotator cuff tear
can occur from a fall on an out-stretched arm. Over-use of the
rotator cuff, like that seen in athletes or people that do repetitive
motions at work, can result in rotator cuff injuries. Signs and
symptoms patients should look for when they think they may have a
rotator cuff injury are pain while resting or sleeping, in particular
when laying on the shoulder, pain with moving your arm in certain
directions, loss of strength in the arm during certain motions, as
well as crackling sounds when using your arm in certain movements.
Some patients may eventually require surgery to repair the rotator
cuff but is a large percentage of patients, therapy and
anti-inflammatories will help the patient function. Caution should
be taken with cortisone injections into the area as while it can
temporarily decrease the pain, it can allow faster degradation of the
tendons and speed the partial tear converting to a full tear. In
cases where surgery is required, the post-operative course can
complicated by infection, permanent stiffness, anesthesia
complications, a lengthy recovery period, as well as a failure of the
repair and a return of the pain.
We
at the Regenerative Medicine Institute of Nevada use alternative
methods and have had great success in staving off the need for
surgery and the use of some of the medications that can have serious
side effects. We offer options to the patient that utilize adipose
derived stromal vascular fraction, (SVF) components. The SVF is
derived from the patients’ own fat cells and their supporting
structures and contains Cytokines, Growth factors, Stem cells, as
well as Mesenchymal cells. This SVF is harvested using a small
liposuction procedure under local anesthesia and then the SVF is
prepared and either injected directly into the joint or given through
an intravenous line. These treatments, because they use the
patients’ own tissue, offer no chances for rejection or allergic
responses. We also offer additional options with Cytokines and
Growth Factors from a tissue bank and mix it with Platelet Rich
Plasma (PRP). This Cytokine Growth Factor Therapy in combination
with the PRP involves no fat harvesting. This procedure, like the
SVF, has no fear of rejection no allergic response. Both of these
options provide choices for the patient looking to avoid prescription
medications, cortisone injections, or surgery. The SVF or Cytokine
Growth Factor Therapy with PRP can be repeated as the aging process
allows continued damage to the tendons and burs in the rotator cuff.
