Shoulder Surgeon Rules for Recovery

If you have suffered the pain and misery that leads to eventual shoulder surgery, you probably feel you cannot have the operation soon enough. Talking to a shoulder surgeon about the operation may even instill optimism in a patient. Those having a shoulder surgery are mentally prepared for the procedure itself, and they are especially ready to function normally again. It is going to take quite some time to feel the positive effects of such an operation. Recovery begins as soon as soon as a patient awakens from anesthetic.

No matter why a person has been in the hospital, the information they desire the most is “When can I go home?” After shoulder surgery, a patient will remain at the facility for a few days. He or she must be able to eat without nausea, urinate, and walk at least for a short distance. Most importantly, the patient must be able to experience pain relief without the help of intravenous painkillers. Pain prescriptions will of course be sent home in the form of Motrin, Advil, Tylenol, etc., but if the patient has not weaned off the hardcore stuff from the IV, these will do no good. At some point during a hospital stay, a shoulder surgeon will switch the patient over to oral medication.

The first days at home a recovering person will need help with daily activities. The goal is to return to normal eating and sleeping as soon as possible, and the way to accomplish that is to follow the plan the shoulder surgeon has given. The first day or two, help will be needed with almost everything, but the less a person uses the muscles that are conjunctive to the shoulder, the less helpful the effect of the procedure. Being as active as possible is recommended. This just means not to lie in bed for days or weeks in an effort to “recover.” A sling should also be worn at night during sleep for a least a month, preferably until the doctor releases the patient from the sling. It is also important, as with any incision, to keep the site dry and non-draining. Stitches will come out in a week or two, but the incision should still be monitored.

Moving onto months afterward, therapy will begin within eight to twelve weeks following the procedure. Therapy is progressive meaning the exercises build upon each other; therefore, doing therapy daily is a must. Again, not correctly participating in the recovery plan will cause muscles to weaken. Those muscles are needed to aid healing.