What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About Rotator Cuff Repair Surgery – FPF Show Episode 19

By Nichole Bonner

February 4, 2022

Crossfit, dan pope, fitness pain free, full thickness, infraspinatus, orthopedic surgery, partial thickness, physical therapist, physical therapy, physiotherapist, physiotherapy, physiotutors, repair, rotator cuff, rotator cuff injury, rotator cuff pain, rotator cuff repair, rotator cuff surgery, rotator cuff tear, Sean Rockett, shoulder injury, Shoulder Pain, shoulder rehab, shoulder surgery, sports injury, supraspinatus, surgery (medical specialty), torn rotator cuff
rotator cuff repair

What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About Rotator Cuff Repair Surgery

In today's episode we go over What Physical Therapists NEED to Know About Rotator Cuff Repair Surgery with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sean Rockett:

  • 0:00 Intro
  • 2:19 Dr Rockett - Bio (Why I trust him)
  • 4:12 Are rotator cuff tears the same in very fit people as in the general population?
  • 5:08 Does rotator cuff tear size matter in terms of physical therapy progression?
  • 5:55 Do larger rotator cuff tear repairs need more time before initiating strengthening?
  • 7:50 When should physical therapy start after rotator cuff repair?
  • 8:10 Open vs. arthroscopic rotator cuff repair
  • 9:02 What does it mean when a rotator cuff repair "fails"?
  • 9:30 Does tissue quality matter for rotator cuff repair?
  • 12:14 How does physical therapy change based on which tendon was repaired?
  • 16:01 How long should you protect the rotator cuff before increasing strength
  • 17:30 What to do if patients have multiple surgeries beyond traditional rotator cuff repair? (biceps tenodesis, distal clavicle excision, labral repair (SLAP, bankart) etc.)

Listen and Subscribe to the Podcast

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Show Notes / Relevant Articles:

  1. Is CrossFit Bad for Shoulders?
  2. FPF Mini Course - 7 Reasons Why Injuries Happen in the Gym and What to do About it
  3. The Ultimate Guide to Rotator Cuff Tears, Tendinopathy and Sub-acromial Impingement Syndrome
  4. The Ultimate Guide to Getting Out of Shoulder Pain and Back to Bench Press, Overhead Press and Olympic Lifts

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Thank you!

Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS

References: