What’s the Best Option for Rotator Cuff Treatment?
When you have an injury, it is important understand all of your options, determining a treatment plan that best suits you and your needs. Dr. Peter Eggert discusses how he works with his patients to fix mechanical problems to provide them with relief and get them back to the healthy lifestyle they are seeking.
Why did you become an Orthopedic Surgeon?
“I grew up in Wisconsin, I’m from the area, and growing up I always enjoyed problem solving, especially using my hands to solve problems. So, I found that in medical school, I could combine two passions, one helping people, but also solving those problems using my hands. So, in surgery uh we’re able to fix a mechanical problem um to provide patients relief and also get them back to that healthy lifestyle they’re seeking.”
What can patients expect from you as their Orthopedic Surgeon?
“Yeah, my patients can expect a surgeon that works with them. We work as a team to um come up with the plan that’s going to fit their needs best, whether it’s nonoperative modalities or create a surgical plan that fits them best.”
When patients come to see you, what injuries and conditions are you seeing and treating?
“So, I do a lot of General Orthopedics. I do joint replacements, but one of my passions is Sports Medicine, especially injuries around the knee and the shoulder. So, around the knee I enjoy ACL surgery, meniscus surgery, and in the shoulder, labor reconstruction and rotator cuff repairs.”
If someone were to injure their rotator cuff what are some indications that it is injured and that they should probably see someone?
“Yeah, if they start to notice pain um around their shoulder, more so even on the side of their shoulder, any sort of difficulty raising an arm, any sort of weakness, uh those would be some signs to look out for.”
When they come in and see you for this injury, what are some of the treatment options? I’m sure it kind of depends on the severity of the tear.
“You’re right. Yeah, it does depend on the severity of the tear. First, we often get an MRI to see and get a better sense of what does that rotator cuff look like. And there are a whole host of uh treatment options um including Physical Therapy, anti-inflammatories, uh we can even talk about cortisone shot. And then surgery is also an option.”
Is there a way to prevent rotator cuff injuries from even occurring in the first place?
“Yeah, so, there’s some rotator cuff injuries that we just can’t prevent. The more chronic rotator cuff injury pattern we can try to avoid and using physical therapy to help strengthen our rotator cuff, can be quite helpful. Also being very cognizant of how we use our arms and trying to avoid lifting heavy objects away from our body.”
Is there any at home exercises that people could be doing, or if people like going weightlifting or doing something in the gym, is there anything that they can do there to help prevent it so that they can avoid PT or something in the future?
“Yeah, there’s a lot of exercises you can add to your uh workout regimen. We actually have a whole list of exercises that we can provide patients in our Clinic to start them.”
If you or someone you know has a pain or injury and would like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Eggert, visit: Schedule an Appointment.
