Optimizing Post-Op Rehab for Shoulder Surgery Recovery

Apr 20, 2024

Shoulder Pain

If you have persistent, lingering shoulder pain that simply refuses to respond to physical therapy or other noninvasive treatment options, you’ll likely need to undergo shoulder surgery. As with most orthopedic surgeries, rehabilitation is key to a successful outcome. Fortunately, the physical therapists at Motive Sports & Physical Therapy love optimizing shoulder rehab!

Post-surgical rehabilitation is an essential piece in any orthopedic surgery, including shoulder surgery. Even once your shoulder has healed after surgery, it’s still weak. Rehabilitation helps you strengthen the joint, improve its range of motion, and generally relearn how to use your shoulder.

Physical therapy is one of the best tools you have for optimizing shoulder rehab. Our therapists will design a custom rehabilitation program based on your needs and goals, and we’ll guide you through the process to help you see success.

Want to know more? Keep reading for a quick guide on all things shoulder rehabilitation–or schedule an appointment at our Media clinic to speak to our friendly, knowledgeable staff!

What Conditions Might Require Shoulder Surgery?

The convenient thing about shoulder pain is that you can often resolve or manage it with physical therapy alone. However, there will always be some situations where a condition or injury may be too severe for physical therapy or where it simply doesn’t respond to noninvasive treatments. That’s when surgery becomes an option–or maybe even a necessity.

Here are a few of the conditions that may require surgery, particularly if physical therapy proves ineffective:

Arthritis: Arthritis, especially osteoarthritis, is one of the main reasons someone may need to undergo shoulder replacement surgery. While some people can manage arthritis through exercise and pain management, others may need surgery to regain full functionality.
Rotator Cuff Tears: While rotator cuff tears often resolve with physical therapy, a severe one will likely require surgery. Most people will undergo a rotator cuff repair, in which the surgeon repairs the damaged tendon. But if a rotator cuff tear is left untreated and warps the shoulder joint, you may need a shoulder replacement.
Shoulder Fracture: A severe fracture in your upper arm bone (humerus) and/or shoulder blade may require shoulder replacement surgery (although most shoulder fractures do not).

No matter the reason for your procedure or the type of shoulder surgery you undergo, the therapists at Motive Sports & Physical Therapy will help guide you through your post-op rehabilitation. We’ll work with you and your surgical team to create a customized treatment plan to help you maximize your recovery and return to your favorite activities.

Shoulder Rehabilitation: A Typical Timeline

Shoulder surgeries vary in intensity. Repair-type surgeries are often performed using shoulder arthroscopy, in which the surgeon uses a tiny camera and small cuts to complete the procedure. However, a total shoulder replacement is major surgery and may require a hospital stay.

Regardless of the type of surgery you have, however, you can expect to spend time in rehabilitation, working to restore mobility and strength to your shoulder. How much time will depend on the specific work you have done. For some procedures, you may only require a month of rehab, but most people will need 6-12 months.

You’ll generally begin physical therapy a day or two after surgery. The initial goal is to focus on healing the surgical site. You’ll likely need to use a sling, so your physical therapist will ensure you’re using it properly and can help you with strategies for basic self-care, like getting dressed without damaging your shoulder.

During this stage, it’s also important to manage pain and begin simple mobility exercises to get the joint moving, reducing swelling and facilitating healing. Our therapists can also employ manual therapy techniques, such as shoulder mobilizations, to help with stiffness and swelling.

As you recover, you’ll begin dedicated rehabilitation exercises to help you regain full functionality in your shoulder without risking reinjury. Rehabilitation is a progressive process, starting with range of motion exercises before moving on to strength training and then functional training, which focuses on preparing you to return to work and recreation.

Optimizing Shoulder Rehab with Physical Therapy

Your shoulder is a complex joint with many moving parts. You also use it constantly, especially for small, day-to-day activities you might not think much about until you’ve suffered an impairment. For this reason, your shoulder is extremely susceptible to re-injury after surgery.

Hurting yourself while in post-surgical rehabilitation is the opposite of rehab optimization! One major benefit of working with our team of physical therapists is that we’ll help you avoid potential injuries. We’ll provide you with movement modifications and other strategies in the first weeks after surgery. We’ll also let you know which exercises are safe to perform and ensure you’re performing them correctly.

But even as your shoulder gets stronger, our physical therapists still have an essential role to play! As musculoskeletal experts, we can custom-design an expert rehabilitation exercise plan that acknowledges your strengths and addresses your limitations. Someone rehabilitating after a total shoulder replacement has very different needs than someone who underwent a minimally invasive rotator cuff repair–and our physical therapists can help both!

Finally, our physical therapists can help you manage your pain with minimal drug use. While you’ll likely need pain medication immediately after your surgery, physical therapy offers alternative pain management techniques during the later stages of recovery and rehabilitation. Simply mobility exercises and manual therapy can both help you manage pain so you can focus on your more intense rehabilitation work.

Ready to Optimize Your Shoulder Rehab? Give Us a Call!

Rehabilitation after any orthopedic surgery is always a long and often difficult process. Shoulder rehabilitation is further complicated by how frequently you use your shoulder in daily activities. Fortunately, the team of physical therapists at Motive Sports & Physical Therapy will help you maximize your recovery time, helping you achieve the best possible outcomes!

To learn more about how we can help you rehabilitate after an upcoming shoulder surgery, schedule an appointment today!

Optimizing Post-Op Rehab for Shoulder Surgery Recovery