- Repairing your torn rotator cuff tendon
is only the first step in your road to recovery.
Your postoperative rehab
done over the next several months
plays a major role in your success.
In the first four to six weeks of therapy
you'll be doing what is known as
passive range of motion,
that is, your therapist will be moving your shoulder,
but you won't be firing the muscles yourself.
During this time you'll be wearing a sling.
Over the next four to six weeks
you'll do what is known as an active range of motion.
You'll be moving the shoulder yourself
and your therapist will be aiding you.
In the last four to six weeks
we work on the strengthening of the muscles
around your shoulder.
This will be done under the direction
of your therapist.
- The day after your surgery
you'll come in for physical therapy.
And we will remove the sling,
remove the bandages.
And the first thing that's very important
is to achieve passive range of motion.
Keith, we're going to do
some passive range of motion for home.
This is what I want you to do at home
to keep your arm loose.
Now, understand, you're not going to be
actively moving your arm.
We're using the table to help you
to keep it loose without you contracting the muscle.
'Cause as we said before,
you don't want to do that
because that'll pull on the repair
that the doctor just fixed.
- Okay.
So I want you to slide you arm on the towel,
keep your hand on the towel.
And you're going to slide forward,
lean your body forward,
and you're pushing your arm forward.
Put your head down.
And then as you come back,
you're going to use your trunk
to pull your arm back.
Keep your shoulder back and down.
And you're going to put your shoulder blade
in your back pocket, good.
We will move your shoulder for you.
You're not permitted to move it yourself
because if you move it yourself,
you are contracting the muscle
that the doctor just attached back to the bone
or back to the tendon, depending on the type of tear.
And back.
The sling is important to be worn
according to how the doctor recommends.
Sometimes it will be for a week.
And sometimes it will be up to six weeks.
The active phase generally occurs at six weeks.
And that's the phase where you're allowed
to get out of the sling
and start actively moving your shoulder.
This does not mean lifting weights.
This just means we're reeducating the muscles
to teach your body how to reincorporate
the rotator cuff into normal function.
And that will include just lifting your arm
up against gravity,
and going through normal functional movement patterns
to fix your hair, get dressed,
feed yourself, things like that.
The final step is the strengthening phase.
And that generally occurs around 12 weeks.
And that means we start resisted exercise
to help strengthen the muscles
so that you can do more active activities,
such as lifting your grandchild,
picking up a grocery bag,
picking up your briefcase, things like that.
The communication between the doctor
and the therapist is crucial.
In fact, the doctor gives us
lots of information on your first visit
so we know exactly what he did
when he repaired your shoulder.
I'd know if it's a little tear or a large tear
and how quickly we can move
and how aggressive we can become.
It's important to keep up on a home exercise program
because your shoulder is going through a healing process.
Your body is laying down the scar tissue
to heal the repair.
If you don't move it in a normal fashion,
your body will lay down lots of scar tissue,
and you could develop a frozen shoulder
or a shoulder that doesn't move correctly,
which will inhibit your function
even after the repair is healed.
So it's important to do the exercises on a daily basis
as instructed by your therapist
so that we can restore you to full function
as soon as possible.
- Sometimes rotator cuff tears are unavoidable,
especially if you've had an acute injury.
However, there are modifications you can make
in your daily activities
to help prevent them from occurring
or from retearing, if you already had a repair.
Tips on preventing rotator cuff tears and retears
are, first of all, maintain the strength
and range of motion of your shoulder.
Avoid repetitive overhead motions
as much as possible.
Do not lift heavy objects without assistance.
Avoid falling on your shoulder.
Try to perform the home exercises
given to you by your therapist.
Here at Coordinated Health
we work as a team in your treatment and recovery.
But remember, you're the most important member of that team.
You hold the keys to the success of your own treatment.
Your consistent effort during and after treatment
build the foundation for maintaining a pain-free shoulder.
Take what we teach you,
apply it in your daily life.
Take a little time every day
to stretch and strengthen your shoulder.
This has a tremendous impact
preventing pain and loss of function.
And that's the Art of Medicine.