If you are having, or considering having shoulder surgery, you should be aware of the recovery from the surgery.
Shoulder surgery hurts! There is no way around that one. Typically patients have difficulty getting back to their daily routine for about 2 weeks after surgery. It is difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep and it is hard to adapt to one good arm and one arm stuck in a sling.
If you have gone through a Rotator Cuff Repair, you will typically need to wear a sling for about 6 weeks. You can take it off to do your exercises (with and without a physical therapist) and to shower, but otherwise you are wearing the sling at all times (even while sleeping). At your first visit after surgery, the stitches will be removed and you will get a prescription for physical therapy. We will also go over the results of surgery with you. You will start physical therapy shortly after surgery, and will work primarily on getting your shoulder comfortable and regaining some basic range of motion for the first month.
Once the repaired tendon has securely healed back to the bone (about 6 weeks), you will start to work on regaining your strength and improving your range of motion. Typically it takes patients 3-4 months to regain most of their range of motion and 6-8 months to regain most of their strength. You will continue to improve for about a year after surgery.
For a more detailed description of Rotator Cuff Repair rehabilitation, see our physical therapy website for the post-op rehab protocol.
