There is much more to rotator cuff surgery recovery than just the expertise of your surgeon. While it is true your physician and physical therapist must provide a good deal of science to the process you will have to provide a good understanding of how your body works and find a good deal of outside support as well. There will be normal daily activities that you will be unable to perform due to the surgery and you will need friends or loved ones to come along side you and help you out. When you bring all these elements together, you will have a winning team dedicated to your swift recovery.
Immediately After Surgery
There is a possibility that you will have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Open surgery requires the first few days of recovery to be monitored in the hospital for at least 24 hours. However if you have arthroscopic surgery you can go home immediately.
You will be required to wear a protective sling no matter which surgery you opt for. A sling keeps the arm and should more relaxed and will aid in a faster rotator cuff surgery recovery. Your physical therapist will however help you with passive exercises as soon as you are released from the hospital. These stretching and strengthening exercises will keep your muscles soft and pliable preventing atrophy or scarring.
During Recovery Exercises
There are four distinct phases of recovery, passive motion, active motion, strengthening and full activity. During each of these recovery phases, you will have specific exercises to do. Your physical therapist will provide you with the details for each area of recovery and the proper exercises you must do, they will generally fall into one of three categories, beginning, advanced and strengthening.
First, beginning exercises can be done with and without the help of your physical therapist. You can alternate between forward elevation of the arm, external rotation, and elbow flexion and extension and grip exercises, to name a few. Ask your physical therapist whether you are allowed to perform these exercises in the passive and active ways. This is an important step since exposing your shoulder muscles to stress before these are ready can adversely affect your rotator cuff surgery recovery.
Second, advanced exercises are performed 6-8 weeks after the operation. You are now asked to let your shoulders perform its full range of motion with exercises that must be done 10-15 times daily. Your physical therapist will outline advanced exercises like internal rotation and cross-body adduction.
Third, strengthening exercises aim to restore strength to your otherwise weakened muscles. This way, you can indeed go back to your daily activities even in sports.
You will be required to lift weights although you must still remember not to overstress your shoulder muscles. As such, your physical therapist will plan out a personalized strength training protocol that will include internal and external rotations as well as pressing exercises.
During your rotator cuff surgery recovery period and exercises, you should contact your doctor immediately if your wound exhibits any of the following; oozing fluid, unnatural warmth, you develop fever or if pain becomes intense. Any of these can be a sign that things are not going well.
Tom Nicholson spends his time caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. You can follow this link to learn more aboutrotator cuff surgery recovery.