K45 -- November 2010 -- Rotator Cuff Surgery

Intro: The pain of a rotator cuff injury can be bad. Your shoulder aches when you lift your arm up, like when you need to grab something out of a high cabinet, or reach up to brush your hair. Surgery used to mean a big operation that left a large scar. These days doctors use a minimally invasive approach. But doctors at Mayo Clinic say the key to recovery also is rest and rehab.

You wouldn't think that folding laundry is a tough task, but when a fall out of bed resulted in a torn rotator cuff, doing laundry was out for Deb Eggers.

"Shooting pain down here, in my shoulder."

After weeks of dealing with shooting pain, Deb went to see Dr. Scott Steinmann, who recommended minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery.

"We can get in there, fix the problem without having to take lots of things apart."

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles inside the shoulder that helps it move. When the muscles are injured, or torn, Dr. Steinmann uses instruments about the size of pencils to access them. He can then repair the injury without large incisions. Even though surgery is minimally invasive, recovery can be painful and take a long time.

"Completely no movement for six weeks."

Only then does Dr. Steinmann recommend starting physical therapy. Deb knows it can take up to a year to fully recover so she takes it easy, folding only the smaller items, until her shoulder is fully back in action.

For Medical Edge, I'm Vivien Williams.

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Dr. Steinmann says there's some debate about exactly when patients should start moving their shoulder after surgery. But he recommends waiting about four to six weeks to give your shoulder time to heal.

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