Blog
Practical advice, injury prevention, and surgical care for shoulders, elbows, and hands.
Why Rotator Cuff Repairs Fail and How to Reduce t…
Rotator cuff repair failure, meaning the tendon re-tears rather than healing onto the bone, happens more often than most people are told, and far less catastrophically than the word failure suggests. For a small tear the risk is low, around 1 in 20. For a massive one it can be more than half. And here…
Rotator Cuff Surgery Recovery: A Week-by-Week Timeline
Rotator cuff surgery recovery time is measured in months, not weeks, and it runs through four phases: roughly 6 weeks in a sling protecting the repair, 6 to 12 weeks getting movement back, 3 to 6 months rebuilding strength, and 6 to 12 months returning to everything. The operation is the quick part. The recovery…
Rotator Cuff Repair Surgery: What Actually Happens in Theatre
Rotator cuff repair surgery is almost always keyhole surgery now, done through a few incisions smaller than a fingernail, while you are asleep under a general anaesthetic with your arm numbed by a nerve block. The surgeon uses a camera to find the torn tendon, then anchors it back onto the bone with tiny implants…
Traumatic vs Age-Related Rotator Cuff Tears
The difference between a traumatic and a degenerative rotator cuff tear is the difference between a tendon that failed suddenly under force and one that wore through gradually over years. They share a name, they can look similar on a scan, and they are almost two different conditions. One is often a reason to act…
Not Every Rotator Cuff Tear Needs Repairing: Here’s Why
Finding a rotator cuff tear on MRI can feel like a verdict, but it is often closer to a grey hair. Cuff tears are remarkably common as we age, a large proportion cause no pain whatsoever, and many are discovered by accident on a scan done for something else. A tear on your report does…
Can a Rotator Cuff Tear Heal Without Surgery?
The honest answer has two halves. A torn rotator cuff tendon does not reliably knit back onto the bone without surgery, so in a strict structural sense the tear usually does not heal. And yet a great many people get substantially better without an operation, because the shoulder can work well even with the tear…
Rotator Cuff Tear: Surgery vs Physiotherapy
For most degenerative rotator cuff tears, the honest starting point is physiotherapy, not surgery. Many people recover good, lasting function without an operation, and the evidence comparing the two is closer than most expect. The clear exception is a significant tear from a sudden injury in a younger, active person, where earlier surgery genuinely matters.…
Rotator Cuff Tear Symptoms: How to Tell If Yours Is Serious
The rotator cuff tear symptoms that matter most are not about how much it hurts, but about what you can and cannot do. Pain alone is common and often not serious. Weakness, an arm that will not lift, or an arm that drops when you lower it slowly, are the signs that point to a…
Shoulder Pain That Wakes You at Night
Shoulder pain at night usually comes from one of four things: a rotator cuff problem, a frozen shoulder, arthritis, or an inflamed bursa. The reason it feels so much worse in bed than during the day is not in your head, and for most people it is not a sign of anything sinister. It is,…
Referring an Upper Limb Patient: What GPs Should Include
A well-constructed upper limb referral triages faster, spares your patient a repeated scan, and gets the genuinely time-critical cases seen before their window closes. This page sets out what to include, how imaging expectations differ by region, and which presentations warrant a phone call rather than a letter. It is written for referring general practitioners…