Sports Medicine · Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery
Rotator Cuff Repair in NY & NJ
Can’t sleep on your shoulder or lift your arm overhead? Our fellowship-trained sports medicine surgeons repair torn rotator cuffs arthroscopically — and start with non-surgical care when that’s the better answer. Serving Long Island, NY and northern New Jersey.
Fellowship-trained sports medicine surgeons
Arthroscopic, minimally invasive technique
Non-surgical options tried first when appropriate
Orthopedics + pain management under one roof
What the Rotator Cuff Is
Your rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons that wrap around the top of the upper arm bone. Together they hold the ball of the shoulder centered in its socket and let you lift and rotate your arm. It’s a remarkable piece of engineering — and a busy one, which is why it wears out.
Rotator cuff tears come in two broad flavors. Some are acute: you fall, catch yourself, or lift something heavy awkwardly, and the tendon tears. Many more are degenerative: the tendon frays gradually over years, often with no single moment of injury. Degenerative tears are common as we age, and plenty of people have one without much pain at all.
Rotator cuff problems are a leading cause of shoulder pain, and they’re one of several shoulder surgery options we treat. For a plain-language overview, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has a patient guide on OrthoInfo.
Signs You May Have a Rotator Cuff Tear
- Pain at night, especially lying on that shoulder — often the symptom that finally brings people in
- Trouble lifting your arm overhead, or weakness reaching up
- A dull ache deep in the shoulder
- Pain reaching behind your back or out to the side
- Weakness lifting or lowering the arm
- Cracking or popping with certain movements
Night pain deserves a mention of its own. Many people tolerate shoulder pain for months and only seek help once it costs them sleep. It’s a common pattern — and a reasonable reason to get evaluated.
Seek prompt care if your shoulder gave out suddenly during an injury, you can’t lift the arm at all, or you have significant weakness after a fall. Acute, full-thickness tears in active people are sometimes better repaired sooner rather than later.
Do You Actually Need Surgery?
Not every rotator cuff tear needs repair — and this is one area where that’s genuinely true, not a hedge. Many partial tears and degenerative tears improve substantially with physical therapy, activity changes, and sometimes an injection. At Empire, we follow a step-up approach: the least invasive option that resolves your problem comes first.
Repair is often the right choice when:
- The tear is acute and full-thickness, particularly in active people
- You have real weakness, not just pain
- Months of physical therapy haven’t resolved things
- The tear happened with a specific injury and the shoulder isn’t recovering
- Your work or sport demands overhead strength
Non-surgical care may work well when:
- The tear is partial and strength is preserved
- Symptoms are mainly pain rather than weakness
- You have a lower-demand lifestyle
- You haven’t yet given a structured therapy program a real trial
A tear on an MRI is not automatically a tear that needs surgery. What matters is what your shoulder can and can’t do, and what you need it to do.
How Rotator Cuff Repair Works
Most rotator cuff repairs are done arthroscopically. Your surgeon makes a few small incisions, inserts a pencil-thin camera, and uses thin instruments to reattach the torn tendon to the bone with small anchors. Larger or more complex tears sometimes need a different approach, which your surgeon will explain if it applies.
- You receive anesthesia — often a nerve block with sedation, or general anesthesia.
- Your surgeon inserts the arthroscope and inspects the joint, confirming the tear pattern.
- The torn tendon edge is prepared, and the bone surface is cleaned so tissue can heal to it.
- Small anchors are placed in the bone, and sutures pull the tendon back to its footprint.
- Any other findings — such as bone spurs or biceps tendon problems — are addressed in the same operation.
Most patients go home the same day, in a sling.
Benefits and Risks
Possible benefits
- Relief from night pain, which is often what patients notice first
- Restored strength for lifting and reaching overhead
- Small incisions and usually same-day surgery
- Preventing a repairable tear from getting larger over time
Possible risks
- Infection, bleeding, or a reaction to anesthesia
- Stiffness — the most common issue after cuff repair
- The repair failing to heal, which is more likely with larger tears
- Nerve irritation or blood clots
- Ongoing pain or weakness in some cases
No surgeon can promise a specific result. What we can promise is an honest conversation about whether repair is likely to help — including when it isn’t.
Recovery: Longer Than People Expect
This is the part worth understanding before you commit. Rotator cuff repair recovery is a marathon. The tendon has to heal back to bone, and that biology sets the pace no matter how motivated you are.
Weeks 0–6: Sling protection. Your surgeon may allow gentle passive motion — where a therapist or your other arm moves the shoulder — while the repair is protected.
Weeks 6–12: The sling comes off. Active motion progresses, and you start moving the arm under your own power.
Months 3–6: Strengthening begins in earnest. This is where function really returns.
Months 6–12: Continued strength gains. Overhead work and sport typically return in this window, and improvement can continue for a year or more.
The trade-off worth knowing: the sling and early restrictions exist because the tendon-to-bone healing is fragile. Pushing early risks the repair failing. Recovering from rotator cuff repair asks more patience than most orthopedic procedures.
How it compares
| Rotator cuff repair | Non-surgical care | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Full-thickness tears, real weakness, active patients | Partial tears, preserved strength, lower demand |
| Main tool | Arthroscopic repair, then months of rehab | Physical therapy, activity changes, sometimes injection |
| Time to results | Slow — often 6–12 months | Often weeks to a few months |
| Main trade-off | Sling, restrictions, and a long rehab | The tear remains; it may enlarge over time |
Meet Your Sports Medicine Surgeons
Salvatore Corso, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon · Sports Medicine
Dr. Corso is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with a subspecialty board certification in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine and a fellowship in arthroscopy and sports medicine. With more than 20 years of experience and over 10,000 orthopedic procedures, he has lectured nationally on arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder, knee, and other joints. He is Co-Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Mercy Medical Center and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Jeffrey Guttman, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon · Sports Medicine
Dr. Guttman is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine and more than 20 years in practice. He completed his orthopedic residency at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, a Columbia University hospital, where he served as Chief Resident, followed by a sports medicine fellowship in Philadelphia. He holds privileges at Northwell Health–Plainview, Mercy Hospital, and Hudson Regional Hospital.
Because Empire combines orthopedic surgery and pain management under one roof, you don’t need a separate referral if pain control becomes part of your plan. We also offer ultrasound-guided shoulder injections when a non-surgical approach makes sense.
Why Patients Choose Empire
- Fellowship-trained, board-certified sports medicine surgeons
- A step-up approach — many cuff tears don’t need surgery, and we’ll say so
- Arthroscopic technique with small incisions and same-day surgery
- Orthopedic surgery and pain management in one practice
- Convenient locations across Long Island, NY and northern New Jersey
See all the areas we serve.
Rotator Cuff FAQs
How long does it take to recover from rotator cuff surgery?
Longer than most people expect. A sling for roughly the first six weeks, active motion after that, strengthening from around three months, and continued improvement out to a year. Overhead work and sport typically return somewhere in the 6–12 month range.
Can a rotator cuff tear heal without surgery?
A torn tendon doesn’t reattach itself, but many people do very well without surgery — particularly with partial tears and preserved strength. Physical therapy can restore function and reduce pain even when the tear remains.
Why does my shoulder hurt more at night?
It’s a classic rotator cuff pattern. Lying down changes the position of the shoulder and removes the distractions of the day, and night pain is often the symptom that finally prompts people to get evaluated.
How long will I be in a sling?
Commonly around six weeks, though your surgeon sets this based on your tear and repair. The sling protects the tendon while it heals to bone.
What happens if I don’t repair a rotator cuff tear?
Some tears stay stable and manageable with therapy. Others enlarge over time, and a tear that retracts far enough can become harder or impossible to repair later. Your surgeon can tell you which situation you’re likely in.
Will insurance cover rotator cuff repair?
It’s often covered when medically indicated, but plans differ and coverage varies by location. Our team will verify your benefits before scheduling.
Request a Shoulder Consultation
Shoulder pain keeping you awake, or an arm that won’t go overhead? Get an evaluation with a board-certified sports medicine surgeon. We’ll examine the shoulder, review your imaging, and give you an honest answer about whether repair would help — or whether therapy is the smarter first step.
Long Island, NY: (516) 229-1443 · New Jersey: (732) 630-7246
We see shoulder patients across our Long Island, NY and northern New Jersey offices. Hurt in an accident or on the job? We also treat injury and accident cases and document your care for your claim.
Pain treatments are covered by most major medical insurances including Medicare, Workers Comp, No Fault & Others.
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Meet Our Pain Management & Orthopedic Specialists
Dr. Monica Misak
Interventional Pain Specialist
Dr. James Yu, D.O.
Board Certified Anesthesiologist
Board Certified Interventional
Pain Management Physician
Dylan J. O'Rourke
Certified Physician Assistant
Pain Conditions Affecting Daily Life
Improve your quality of life with our comprehensive approach to pain management
We are dedicated to finding individualized treatment options tailored to fit your needs. Our team is dedicated to helping you lead a productive and active life, free from pain and disruption.
We use an integrative approach to conduct a comprehensive evaluation and assess your condition.
Physical examination and review of your medical history. We assess the cause of your pain, determine its severity and duration, and help you develop an individualized treatment plan.
We provide a range of treatments and procedures to address your chronic pain. These include nerve blocks, injections, physical therapy, implantable therapies and more. We also offer health education to help you better manage your condition.