Rotator cuff tear to ten weeks. The effect of active or passive motion during any of the phases is unclear, due to conflicting information and a shortage of clinical evidence. Gentle physical therapy guided motion is instituted at this phase, only to prevent stiffness of the shoulder; the rotator cuff remains fragile. At three months after surgery, physical therapy intervention changes substantially to focus on scapular mobilization and stretching of the glenohumeral joint. Once full passive motion is regained (at usually about four to four and a half months after surgery) strengthening exercises are the focus. The strengthening focuses on the rotator cuff
Rotator cuff tear postoperative pain or pain medication use apparently are not seen between arthroscopic- and open-surgery. Even for full-thickness rotator cuff tears, conservative care (i.e., nonsurgical treatment) outcomes are usually reasonably good. However, many people still have disability and pain despite nonsurgical therapies. For massive tears of the rotator cuff, surgery has shown durable outcomes on 10-year follow-up. However, the same study demonstrated ongoing and progressive fatty atrophy and repeat tears of the rotator cuff. MRI evidence of fatty atrophy in the rotator cuff prior to surgery is predicative of a poor surgical outcome. If the rotator cuff is completely torn, surgery