Rotator Cuff Partial Tear! Non-Surgical Treatment with Bone Marrow Stimulation Stem Cell Regeneration!

Hello. I'm Dr. Dongkyu Lee, an orthopedic specialist. Today, let's learn about treating rotator cuff partial tears. Prolotherapy is a widely known treatment for rotator cuff partial tears. It's also known as ligament strengthening or ligament regeneration injections. It can show good results when the tear is small. But there are very tricky cases. Cases where the tear is too small for surgery but too significant for injection therapy alone. Or cases where injection therapy has been tried but the rotator cuff partial tear hasn't healed and pain keeps recurring. In some cases, patients with partial tears simply manage pain until the tear becomes complete, and then surgery is performed. Many patients diagnosed with rotator cuff partial tears visit university hospitals only to be told to take medication for several months and essentially wait until the tear becomes complete before having surgery.

Why should you wait until it becomes a complete tear? Isn't there a way to treat it before it progresses?

For these cases, the available treatment is "bone marrow stimulation stem cell regeneration." This is the specialized treatment within NewPIMS therapy for rotator cuff conditions. Let me explain what bone marrow stimulation regeneration is.

When a rotator cuff partial tear is present, ultrasound guidance is used to precisely create small holes in the humerus at the tear site. Bone marrow cells emerge from these holes, and these autologous stem cells promote tissue healing.

The key to this treatment is whether the bone marrow stimulation can be precisely targeted to the partial tear site. Accurate positioning with ultrasound is crucial, and creating holes at the proper depth uniformly is essential. Let me show you a treatment case. A 64-year-old male patient had been diagnosed with a rotator cuff partial tear for years and had received multiple prolotherapy treatments without improvement, with pain recurring repeatedly.

On MRI, the rotator cuff that should appear dark shows white areas and splitting as indicated by the yellow arrows, suggesting a partial tear. The tear has progressed to a fairly significant degree.

Bone marrow stimulation stem cell regeneration was performed as part of NewPIMS treatment.

Under ultrasound guidance, the precise location was targeted and a needle was inserted to perform bone marrow stimulation regeneration.

After the procedure, 5 additional sessions of prolotherapy were performed, followed by a repeat MRI.

The previously white and split rotator cuff showing partial tear has recovered to near-normal.

Rotator cuff partial tears no longer need to be conditions where you wait cautiously until they become complete tears. They should be treated proactively to prevent progression to complete tears.

Don't wait for a complete rotator cuff tear requiring surgery. Treat the partial tear and maintain a healthy shoulder for life — that's the best approach.

Bone marrow stimulation stem cell regeneration will definitely be helpful in treating rotator cuff partial tears.