The Traditional Approach would be to surgically repair the shoulder and hope that it heals properly. Unfortunately, successful surgical outcomes are only at 60%. You have a better chance of healing if the tear is small, but if the tear is larger, the odds of failure increase. The cause to most tearing of tendons or rotator cuff injuries is due to the lack of blood supply to those muscles. In addition, there are less stem cells in the area that weakens the muscle. Many doctors will then immobilize the shoulder with heavy-duty bracing, but the downfall to the heavy bracing is the lack of shoulder strength allowing muscle to atrophy.

In cases of UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) Tears, surgery requires a tendon from another part of your body and it replaces the torn ligament. If you are a follower of baseball, you’ll know this procedure as “Tommy John” surgery.

With the Modern Approach, it’s about strengthening your muscle tissue by injecting the area with stem cells, which would then improve the blood supply to the affected area. In addition, the odds of atrophy setting in your muscles reduces immensely. The odds of proper healing are substantially increased.

In addition, unlike the use of MRI machines, using ultrasound stress testing will often show the weakened muscle and tissue, and will highlight the areas where the stem cells should be injected into.