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It must be emphasized that rotator cuff surgery recovery is both a science and an art. Your physical therapist and physician will provide the science behind the exercises and applications while you provide the art of knowing your body. Of course, your family members who provide support in your daily activities, which cannot be performed due to the surgery, form a significant part of the art/science combo. Working together as a team, you can indeed speed up your recovery.

First Things First

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.

No matter which surgery you have you will be required to wear a protective sling. You will have a much faster rotator cuff surgery recovery time, as this will keep your arm and shoulder immobile and relaxed. This does not mean you should never move it however; you will have passive exercises to do guided by your physical therapist immediately after getting out of the hospital. These exercises keep the muscle from becoming atrophied or scarred.

Exercises during Recovery Period

You will go through four areas of recovery, passive motion, active motion, strength and full activity and there will be varying exercises depending on which phase you are currently in. A physical therapist will be on hand to discuss and instruct you on the proper exercises during each phase. Your exercises will fall into one of three groups, beginner, advanced and strength.

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.

During the strength training phase you will be required to life weights however you should remember not to stress the should muscles. In fact, your physical therapist should plan out a personal training program that includes internal and external rotations in addition to pressing exercises.

In any of these exercises, you must immediately consult with your doctor when your wound starts to exhibit signs of redness, uncommon warmth and oozing fluid or when you develop a fever or when your pain becomes intolerable. Any of these factors will affect how fast and how well you tread the path of rotator cuff surgery recovery.

Tom Nicholson spends his time caring for sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome. Please follow this link to learn more regardingrotator cuff surgery recovery.