Post-Op Shoulder Surgery Guidelines-Best shoulder surgeon in Bangalore

 

Best shoulder surgeon in Bangalore | Praxis Ortho Care

Post-operative shoulder cares are very critical. Most of the time I found patients become impatient due to delay in resuming their daily activity. 

The recovery time varies based on surgery type and injury but it’s also true that your wrong post-surgical care mistake might extend your recovery time.

First, let’s have a checklist of all the must-have things you need to buy.

Detachable shower head. You have to protect your incision from water for a certain period. A detachable showerhead is the easiest and safest way to do that.

Pump soap. In case one of your shoulder gone through surgery and use can use only one arm then pump soap is the best solution. However, if your both shoulders went through surgery, then you have no option to take the help of others for a certain time. Keep in mind, excessive mobility just after the surgery can harm your shoulder to a greater extent.

Shower chair. You should be more conscious about falling. Sometimes the pain killers and other post-operative medication might leave you dizzy. Risks of falling increase in such cases. A shower chair is an ultimate solution to handle such risks.

Waterproof bandages. As I told earlier you have to keep your incision dry until the doctor provides further instruction. Waterproof bandages do the job very well.

Now let’s discuss the care strategy. The complete healing of shoulder joints might take several weeks. For the first two weeks, extensive discompose and pain is very common. Even for more critical surgery, the pain might stay for 3 to 4 weeks. So your care strategy should include:

Ice Compression. If you feel extensive inflammation or pain, place and hold an ice pack directly on your shoulder for 20 minutes. Repeat this process in a 2 to 3 hours interval for the first two weeks of post-surgery. After this phase, you can start a heat pack. But don’t forget to consult your doctor before starting the heat pack.

Medication. As per the instruction of your doctors, you can take local anesthetics, opioids, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to get relief from extensive pain and swelling. 

Clothing and outfits. I recommend wearing loose-fitting clothes. Always wear such clothes that do not require lifting your arms over the head. Zippered or button-down shirts are a better option than the pullover ones. 

For women, try to use bras or inner garments that have the closing button on the front side. If you can’t find such a bra, then put the bra on the backward and clasp on the front side. Then twist it after closing the clasp.

In the case of shoes, slip-on is the best option as you don’t need to move your arm for binding the laces. 

 Sleeping position. I know it’s the biggest challenge every patient faces after the shoulder surgery. In the initial days, you have to sleep on the opposite site putting pillow support at your back. Latter days, you can lie flat but only after the pain and discomfort start to reduce. If possible try to set your bed against the wall and keep you back to the wall side while sleeping. I would suggest wearing a sling in the affected arm to prevent any kind of unnecessary movements.

Be patient to resume your physical activity. Most of the cases, I find people start heavy activities once their pain is gone. Never do such things. Although you don’t feel pain, still your injuries are not recovered completely. It’s always recommended to follow the doctor’s instructions for resuming your daily activities. It’s better to resume step-by-step. 

Shoulder surgery exercises. Once you get rid of pain and inflammation start some recovery exercises like shoulder forward elevation, neck flexion, shoulder internal rotation, and walk-up as per your doctor and physiotherapist recommendation. 

So these were the most basic guideline that will help to recover soon.

For any kind of further queries feel free to contact Dr. Sushal Shanthakumar for Best Shoulder Surgeon in Bangalore.