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I had the surgery on Oct. 10. I was in a sling for 6 weeks. It was the one with the wedge. I was told that I could not move my upper arm away from my body. I went back on Oct. 19 and was told to go to PT and that I could sleep without the sling, but I could not move my arm away from my body. I was allowed to move it some from the elbow down. I began PT on Monday and he moved my arm. The PT worked on range of motion, which was excruciating, but I was told that I could not move it at all. I was in a lot of pain and unable to sleep, I called to refill the pain meds at 4 weeks and was told that I should not be in that much pain and normally pain meds were stopped at 2 weeks. I have a high threshold for pain and really felt like I was doing something wrong. I was given 600 mg of ibuprofen and took that with Tylenol. At my 6 weeks check which was Nov.16, I was having severe pain all down my arm. They took an x-ray, the surgeon looked at it and said it was healing fine. Then he moved it around, told me I was resisting, which I was not. That is when he came to the conclusion that I had frozen shoulder. He gave me a cortisone shot, told me to take the ibuprofen and tylenol, and to ice it. He also told me that I had to move it as much as I could. I have been moving it a lot, using biofreeze, icing it and taking the 2 meds. The surgeon also said he wanted me to have aggressive therapy. I am doing both water and land therapy. It is painful, but I am trying to get the ROM back. I can only lift 5 pounds in my hand. I feel like I am being rushed. They repaired 3 tendons, reattached my bicep, which was torn from the shoulder, shaved arthritis off the clavicle and shaved off a bone spur. What all did you have done. I was also told no more sling after 6 weeks.
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Mine was only a rotator repair. I initially went in to simply have an impinged nerve released. It was during that operation that they saw my rotator had completely peeled off the bone at some point. It was not a full tear, but they said it looked as though I had partially torn it at some point and my body tried to heal on its own, a process that I likely went through multiple times. Even though it was a partial tear, a repair requires a full tear anyways.
Obviously, your surgery was far more extensive than mine, but it sounds as though the recovery protocol is/was very similar. I also had to be in a sling with a wedge for 6 weeks. I was told to sleep in mine actually, but after 3 weeks, I did try to sleep without it using pillows to stabilize it instead. At 6 weeks, I was told to stop using the sling, but still not actively try to engage my shoulder. My exercises were guided stretching using a pole or stick, but not actually using my own muscle on the operated side to move. It wasn't until 8 weeks that I began movement exercises. 12 weeks is when I got to be a bit more aggressive, and at 16 weeks I really began aggressive exercises without restrictions. My ROM is still not near where it was prior to surgery, but I am finally noticing small gains. I also cannot lift more than 5 lbs if I try to raise my arm out in front of me. I have a hard time reaching to my opposite side of the body and doing an overhead press motion. It felt like I was not getting anywhere for a LONG time, but I do feel like every so often I get a big leap forward almost overnight. I would still say I am probably only about 60% of where I would like to be, but I am seeing some light at the end of the tunnel (although it still feels like a long ways away). If you are feeling rushed, I would convey that. I was told that pain is normal as the shoulder is the hardest to recover and rehab of any joint in our body. But I was told excruciating pain is a sing that you are doing more than what your body is ready for.