Although most rotator cuff injuries can be remedied with non-surgical options, your doctor may recommend rotator cuff surgery to repair the tears present in the shoulder. Of course, the type of surgery will depend on many factors. No matter the surgery performed, however, the phases of rotator cuff surgery recovery will be similar.
Day of the Surgery
With the majority of these procedures, you will not have to stay in hospital overnight, as this is an outpatient surgery. Nevertheless, you must stay in the hospital until your shoulder pain can be handled with home medications. You will also wear a protective sling so your shoulder and arm muscles can rest and therefore speed the healing along faster.
Here are some hints to quicken rotator cuff surgery recovery throughout the first days after the surgery, which are crucial in the later stages, are:
-Control your pain by taking pain medications right when you feel pain in your shoulder.
-Ask your doctor for guidance and find the right combination of pain and anti inflammation medicines.
-Use ice bags on your shoulder to reduce the pain and quicken healing.
* When sleeping, sleep in a semi-seated position with your elbows pointing down.
Stages of Recovery
You should know that the stages of rotator cuff surgery recovery would depend on the situation of each patient when it comes to getting from one stage to the other. That is why it is best to adhere to your personalized rehabilitation program.
The first stage of recovery can go on for nearly 6 weeks, where you will be asked to only do passive motions. What this mean is not to work or stress out the rotator cuff tendons and muscles. During this stage, your physical therapist will do two things. He will firstly move your recovering shoulder for you and secondly, he will give you guidance on how to move your shoulders with as little muscle contractions as possible.
In the second part, you will be asked to move your arm on your own though you must not move it against any resistance at all. This is named the active motion phase and can go on up to 12 weeks from the time you have surgery.
For the third phase, also called the strengthening period, you will focus on doing isolation exercises to provide strength to muscles that have been rendered weak due to inactivity. This is the most important phase in rotator cuff surgery recovery since full muscle function can be returned once this step is successfully done.
When you reach the fourth part of recovery, you will be able to go back and do all the regular activities you do with your shoulders. Definitely, some things will affect this part of your recovery that can go on for about 6 months after you surgery and you will still have to talk to your doctor about going back to regular physical activities involving your shoulder.
Lastly, your devotion to rehabilitation, the extent and location of the rotator cuff tear and your physical condition will determine how quickly you will recover from rotator cuff surgery.
Tom Nicholson spends his time helping carpal tunnel sufferers. Please follow this link to find out more regardingrotator cuff surgery recovery.
