What to do after anesthesiologist provided nerve block wears off?

Congrats on your new shoulder joint. It will improve rapidly.
I am 70 yo female. Am now four weeks out from my total shoulder replacement. Doing well, no pain - mostly.

I took oxycontin, every 6-8 hours for a week post op, then once an evening to be able to sleep sitting up; I used it to sleep and get comfortable, not so much any pain. My pain has been amazingly: very little. Of course then again, the oxy allowed me to easily sleep sitting up through the first 7-10 days.

At one point I thought my shoulder discomfort was better than it was, got over zealous and slept without the sling one night. Only took one night: won't happen again for quite some time, it was a bit more painful the next two days....live and learn?

Oxycontin is better because it is extended release - Percocet is not. I always manage better on Oxy than on Percocet. So my doc orders Oxy for me.

Wearing my sling has kept pain minimal and seems to be the key to low pain and discomfort.

When I do not wear my sling the soreness and low pain (2-3) begins.

Sleeping flat or even on my good side, makes the pain worse; of course there is zero sleeping other than sitting up at 45 degrees. Forty five degrees is my healing shoulder's sweet spot.

I also got these ice pack shoulder sleeves on Amazon. The ice pack really really helps alleviate soreness on the shoulder. I was doing 15-25 min sessions about four times a day for the first two weeks, too.

I also find I absolutely need to baby this shoulder for now. Stitches have healed nicely, small scar, maybe 6-7 inches. I also find that when I write (am right handed and is my rt shoulder) too much the deltoids get sore, so have to keep writing sessions to less than two hours.

Am not to PT stage yet; two more weeks til I see doc again and he says that is when he will order PT.

Good luck. Keep the elbow tucked into your side: always or at least as much as humanly possible.

@slarson14 super helpful! Elbow by my side is great advice. Are you letting your arm dangle at all? Walking at all? 6 weeks seems like forever! Is there a type or brand of sling you recommend? Thanks so much! 🙏🏻

The surgical center gave me a "Breg" SlingShot2. However, I also bought one for myself one from Amazon "velpeau.com" and it is MUCH softer and more comfy and I don't sweat as much with it. The shoulder icepack is from ComfyTemp - Amazon again. The icepack is nice because it comes with two freezable and microwaveable inserts...really not expensive at all, either.

Doc told me NOT to let my arm dangle because when a total replacement is done, they cut through muscles and those muscles need to heal before any dangling goes on.

I found my elbow was very sore, not sure why, but it was but they did nerve block in both my shoulder and my arm pit area and perhaps that is why it was so sore. I did have to work that elbow soreness out with bicep curls - with my elbow glued to my side of course.

Am very please/surprised how little pain I did have and how quickly the small amount of pain went away.

Oh, yes, I walk, but waited 3 weeks before I did much. Am back on my stationary trainer bike as of today, with sling on of course...lol

Cryocuff machine was my pain control narcs were worthless, didn’t take after a couple days post op. Anti inflammatory that was prescribed too but mainly Cryocuff machine