What to Do When Recovering From Rotator Cuff Surgery
 |
Even though many rotator cuff injuries can be treated with non-surgical approaches, your doctor might advise you to have rotator cuff surgery to fix the tears that are in the shoulder. The kind of surgery that will be performed on you will depend on many things, however no matter what kind of surgery you go through, the recovery for any rotator cuff surgery will be somewhat the same.
Day of the Operation
In most instances, you will not be required to stay in hospital overnight because this is an outpatient operation. You will only have to remain in the hospital until you can manage the pain with home medication. To protect your arm, it will be wrapped in a special protective sling. This will allow your shoulder and arm muscles to relax and help the healing along.
Some tips to speed up rotator cuff surgery recovery during the first few days after the operation, which are very important in the later phases, include:
-Ease your pain by taking your pain medications as soon as you feel pain in your shoulder.
-Ask your doctor for guidance and find the right combination of pain and anti inflammation medicines.
-Apply an ice bag over your shoulder to lessen pain and help 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 part of your recovery will go on for about 6 weeks, where you will be asked to only do passive motions. What this means is that you must avoid any kind of work or stress on the rotator cuff tendons and muscles. For this part of the recovery, your physical therapist will do two things. He will move your injured shoulder for you and second he will give you instructions on the best way to move your shoulders with as little as possible muscle contractions.
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.
The third part of your recovery is the strengthening period, where you will do a series of isolation exercises that will give strength to muscles that have been made weak because of inactivity. This is the most imperative part in rotator cuff surgery recovery because you can regain full muscle function if your do this step well.
During the fourth phase, you can now return to full activity for your shoulders. Of course, many factors affect this phase that can last up to 6 months after surgery and you will still have to consult with your doctor about returning to your old physical activities especially where your shoulder is concerned.
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 has spent years helping sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. Please click here to learn more regardingrotator cuff surgery recovery.
categories: carpal tunnel exercise,carpal tunnel cure,carpal tunnel treatment,carpal tunnel syndrome,carpal tunnel,health,medicine,injury,disease,physical therapy,exercise,fitness,yoga,posture
Related Videos:
Funeral Party Dreams Of A Young Woman
Stop that Dog Barking!
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Feed
What do you think about this write-up?