It varies from patient to patient, but most time, I recommend working with a therapist for about four months after surgery. For the first couple of months, you’re just working on gentle motion stretching and things like that. After a couple of months, we start to do gentle strengthening. After three months, we remove all…
A huge red flag for me is you can’t sleep at night. If the shoulder stops you from being able to sleep at night or interrupts your sleep frequently because of the pain in your shoulder, that’s typically a pretty significant problem. You should have it checked out. If you have pain at rest, you’re…
It may surprise you that I don’t think formal therapy is necessary. However, I do believe that it helps patients get better faster and have less pain after surgery because of the guidance that the therapist gives them as they’re recovering. Every human being is unique in terms of how they recover from surgery. There’s…
I typically recommend about four months, after shoulder replacement surgery. That gets you all through the strengthening phases. Some people go for six months or a little longer, but we typically recommend around four months. We’ve got some cool stuff where we can do virtual therapy—you’re doing everything from home. So, just like I’m talking…
It’s not nearly as difficult as most patients who have had it done thought it would be. After about a week or two, most people have less pain than before surgery and can move their arms very quickly. We don’t force people to wear slings. We allow early active motion after shoulder replacement surgery. So…
It depends on what you consider a major. In most people’s minds, staying in the hospital is a major operation. Our patients don’t stay in the hospital anymore. They go home as an outpatient. If surgeries take hours and hours, that’s a major operation. In my practice, we are hyper-specialized and we’re very efficient. We…
This is an interesting question. Most of the time, when your shoulder is tight and you’re not moving, it’s because of a scar in the glenohumeral joint. People can have scapulothoracic bursitis and some scar tissue there. The best way to start is just with therapy and working on stretching and strengthening. Occasionally, a cortisone…
You should expect a life-changing procedure that dramatically improves your quality of life. Every surgeon and practice is unique in what they allow you to do and what they do not. We are unique in performing a very quick procedure with accelerated rehab. We don’t have people wear slings after surgery. You’re given a sling…
Absolutely. We have patients go home to live alone all the time. You can start moving your arm immediately—dressing, doing your hair, using the restroom, feeding yourself, and driving your car. All those things are perfectly safe and patients can do them within two days after the surgery. People have this picture in their mind…
What is the expected recovery from shoulder replacement surgery? It is doing excellent on all planes. When you look at the human shoulder, what do people want from it? Well, they want motion, strength, and no pain. They don’t want it to hurt, ever. Shoulder replacements are very good at improving motion, amazing at improving…
