Your sport fills your life with activity, purpose, and pleasure. Then, one day, a rotator cuff tear puts you on the sidelines with shoulder pain, and you learn you need surgery to recuperate and return to play.
Rotator cuff injuries are debilitating because this group of muscles and tendons holds your upper arm in your shoulder socket and supports the extensive arm movement needed for your sport, whether you want to pitch a no-hitter or land the put-away shot in tennis.
Our Cascade Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center, P.C., team understands you’re anxious to return to your sport. After your surgery, we provide every possible support to promote healing, yet the road to recovery is naturally slow, and pushing too hard only leads to worse outcomes.
Let’s look at the time you need to recover, and then we suggest a few tips for optimal healing that gets you back in the game faster.
Your recovery timeline depends on the severity of your injury and your commitment to rehabilitation. A torn rotator cuff usually means we must reattach tendons to bones. It takes time for the new tissues to grow and create a strong bond.
Pushing too hard during recovery may cause a re-injury or prevent optimal healing, leaving the rotator cuff too weak and vulnerable to support strenuous athletics.
Here’s a rundown of the four stages of recovery:
Wearing a sling that immobilizes your shoulder for at least a few weeks after surgery is crucial. Immobilization gives the tissues time to heal and allows the tendon to bond with the bone.
Your rehabilitation begins as soon as possible with passive movement. Your physical therapist manually moves your arm to improve shoulder mobility.
As your range of motion improves, your physical therapy progresses to include more active exercises, but overhead activities and lifting remain limited.
While immobilization supports healing, the lack of activity weakens muscles. Your next rehabilitation step is restoring strength through increasingly strenuous physical therapy and at-home exercises.
Along with rebuilding your rotator cuff and arm muscles, the new tissues that grow after surgery take up to 12 weeks to strengthen.
You may feel great and ready to do more at this stage, but you can do more harm than good to your shoulder if you don’t proceed gradually. Stick with your rehab plan, and don’t engage in more strenuous activities until we determine your rotator cuff is ready.
Most people need 4-6 months of physical therapy. During this time, your physical therapist adds sport-specific rehabilitation to prepare you to return to play and lower your risk of future rotator cuff injuries.
After six months of rehab, at least three out of four athletes return to the game, even those participating in overhead and contact sports. One in four patients needs rehabilitation for 9-12 months before regaining optimal strength.
Resting your arm after surgery and following your rehabilitation plan are the two crucial steps for getting back to your sport as quickly as possible. However, healing can slow down or proceed steadily, depending on how you care for yourself after rotator cuff surgery.
Here are four steps to keep your recovery on track:
Think about how you’ll get through daily activities with one free arm (that may be your non-dominant hand). Before your surgery, adjust your home environment to support an immobilized arm.
For example, you may need to move objects you use from a high shelf to the countertop and stock up on foods that are easy to prepare in the microwave (or ask friends to help with meals).
You can’t drive while your arm is immobilized, so you should arrange transportation with friends or use other sources.
Surgery causes incredible stress on your body. Resting whenever you feel tired speeds up the healing process.
Walking improves healing by boosting circulation, but start slowly and walk a little more each day to increase your energy.
Your body needs extra nutrients to support healing after surgery. Eating healthy, balanced meals and taking vitamin and mineral supplements ensures you get nutrition for healing.
Call Cascade Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center, P.C., in Hood River or The Dalles, Oregon, or book online if you have shoulder pain or have questions about rotator cuff surgery.
