Blog - Shoulder Surgery

Exercises that can Affect your Shoulder Surgery

Premier Orthopaedics — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 17:15:35 +0000

Shoulder injuries are a cause of discomfort and pain for many people. The reasons behind shoulder injuries vary but usually are a result of loss of elasticity in joints and flexibility in the elderly or trauma in younger people.

Athletes suffer shoulder injuries as a result of over training and repeated trauma to the shoulder when training. In young people, it is usually as a result of sudden but great physical trauma being borne by the shoulder e.g. in a falling accident. The elderly suffer shoulder injuries due to the effects of age on the body, namely loss of flexibility and elasticity of the muscles and joints.

The most common shoulder injury is tearing of the rotator cuff tendon/ tendons. Exercising too much when one has such an injury results in the worsening of the condition. It is therefore important for one to ensure they go over various forms of exercises that they can safely perform. This is to prevent the worsening of the condition.

Exercising before and after shoulder surgery is recommended in most cases. This is because it increases the rate of recovery after the surgery. However, too much of anything is poisonous; this is especially so for exercising before or after surgery. Pre-hab should run for at least 6 weeks, and the more time spent on it, the better.

Training before undergoing a shoulder operation has been linked to faster recovery time. Patients also require less inpatient rehabilitation as compared to exercising only after surgery. Depending on the severity of one’s shoulder injuries, a combination of land-based and water-based exercises is used. Recommended exercises involve stretching and using the arm’s own weight while exercising. Range of motion exercises are also very effective and safe.

Exercises that place a lot of stress on the shoulder’s joint and muscles should be avoided. Weight training is one of the most harmful exercises one can perform when preparing for shoulder surgery. This is especially so when the shoulder injury is a result of a tear. By subjecting the injured shoulder to the stress of weight training, one increases the chances of worsening the tear. This is made even more likely by the fact that one cannot properly use the injured arm. This results in wrong form and technique while exercising, making it the most common cause of injury in inexperienced weightlifters.

Using one’s body weight too is also discouraged when a lot of the load has to be borne by the shoulders. Not only do exercises such as chin-ups, push-ups and pull-ups place considerable strain on the shoulder joints and muscles, they require a wide range of motion too. This can be a dangerous combination to anyone suffering considerable shoulder injury.

One should also avoid exercises that require a wide range of motion while still placing a considerable load on the shoulder joint. Activities and sports such as lawn tennis, baseball and cricket shouldn’t feature on the list of someone prepping for shoulder surgery. Vigorous swimming can also pose a threat especially if the injury in extensive. Imagine the strain placed on shoulder muscles and joints when one is swimming fast using the butterfly stroke.

Whatever type of injury one has suffered or how they are currently feeling, it is advisable to always consult a doctor or orthopaedic professional. In fact, the best person to come up with a pre-hab plan and schedule should be the doctor or a member of the team treating you. Contact Premier Orthopaedics for more information or download our free eBook, The Pre-Operative Guide to Shoulder Surgery.

The post Exercises that can Affect your Shoulder Surgery appeared first on Premier Orthopaedics.

What You Need to Know During Shoulder Surgery Recovery

Premier Orthopaedics — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 17:17:58 +0000

Post-surgery rehabilitation is an important step in recovering from shoulder surgery. After undergoing surgery, there are some things one should keep in mind to make the period less stressful and more manageable. One of the things to remember is that you should not be moving the shoulder too much; too much movement of the shoulder could result in a sling.
Physical therapy is essential for one to regain their strength and range of motion on the treated shoulder. There are several stages involved in post-surgery rehabilitation and they are immobilization, passive movement of the affected arm and shoulder and active movement.

As immobilization suggests, the shoulder is immobile during this phase, typically in a sling. During the immobilization phase, one’s movement is restricted to the wrist and the elbow. Pendulums are the most common type of exercise during immobilization. It is done by using your body to swing your arm as it dangles. Care should be taken at this stage to keep the shoulder immobile as moving it could damage the repair done.

A few days after the surgery, typically a week or so, passive movement therapy commences. It involves one’s arm being moved while they lie down by either a machine or a therapist. It is meant to prevent the stiffening of the shoulder while healing and to keep it flexible and supple.

Active movement therapy usually starts around the 5th week. At this point, one is allowed to gradually move their shoulder. The exercises one performs increase gradually: first one would most likely need to use their other arm to lift the arm that underwent surgery. This is due to the fact that the shoulder is not yet strong enough to lift the arm by itself without risk of injury. Once a person has undergone active movement therapy for some time, they can start doing strengthening exercises.

After about 4 months, one is almost fully recovered and the strengthening exercises can be intensified. This will include exercises such as push-ups and sports. Gentle swimming is also a great way to fully recover as it offers additional resistance the shoulder should overcome.

One thing to keep in mind is that after surgery and during the therapy, pain and discomfort are to be expected. Cold compression wraps and ice packs are one way of reducing discomfort when undergoing physical therapy. If the pain or discomfort is great, painkillers can also be recommended by one’s doctor for they are usually provided to deal with pain. In the case that one feels too much pain or is in constant pain, exercising should be scaled down.

Sleeping is a challenge after one undergoes surgery. It is recommended that one sleeps lying on the side that was not operated or on their back. Sleeping on the operated arm is not only painful but can cause the shoulder to be injured again.
During the first few weeks, most daily activities should only be done using the arm that has not been operated on. This can be quite frustrating as tasks that were a breeze take longer to perform or require asking for help. Whatever one does, however, they should not use the arm until the time the doctor allows them to or are instructed to do so.

It is also important for one to remember their follow-up appointment. This enables adoctor or orthopaedic specialist to determine how the healing process is going. It also provides a chance to curb any complications that may have arisen. For more information contact Premier Orthopaedics or download our free eBook, The Pre-Operative Guide to Shoulder Surgery.

The post What You Need to Know During Shoulder Surgery Recovery appeared first on Premier Orthopaedics.

Athlete’s Guide to Shoulder Surgery

Premier Orthopaedics — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:24:14 +0000

In the competitive world of amateur and professional sports, winning or losing is literally determined in a matter of split seconds. Boxers thus push themselves harder so they can punch harder and faster; racquet game players train for speed and power too; weightlifters want to be stronger and fitter… and the list goes on.

However, most of the professional athletes are near their optimum performance level. This can be evidenced by the fact that an amateur tennis player who has not played for long can make gains in accuracy of up to 5-10% after training for 2-3 weeks. A professional tennis player has to train with the same intensity as the amateur player for 2-3 months for about 1% gain in accuracy. Since any sport is usually most competitive at the professional level, most athletes over-train in a bid to improve their performance faster. This can result in shoulder injuries.

Some sports require overhead motions and throwing such as volleyball, javelin throwing, lawn tennis, baseball and cricket. This places tremendous strain on shoulder joints and muscles and is exacerbated by the fact that the motion is usually repetitive. The shoulder joint happens to be quite unstable, which is necessary to allow for the wide range of motion it has.

This repetitive strain and overuse of shoulder joints may lead to one injuring their shoulder. Common injuries resulting from overhead motions and throwing include SLAP tears, rotator cuff tears and tearing of the tendons among others. Due to the fact that it happens over a long period of time, such injuries may only be corrected by shoulder surgery.

Shoulder injuries should be looked at by an orthopaedic professional as soon as possible. This is due to the fact that the earlier it is caught, the less damage one inadvertently causes themselves. Early treatment and diagnosis stop the spread of the injury and if caught early enough, non-surgical remedies can be used such as rest and steroid injection.

For athletes suffering from constant shoulder dislocation, keyhole surgical repair can be used to prevent bigger complications in the future. It is less intrusive, less painful and results in minimal inflammation. This results in an athlete losing less time not playing and prevents more serious, future injuries.
When preparing for surgery, an athlete should do exercises before the surgery, known pre-hab. Pre-hab has been shown to increase the recovery rate. Pre-hab should be undertaken for 6 weeks or longer; the longer the better.

However, athletes should keep in mind that there are some types of exercises that are not suited for someone with a shoulder injury. They should therefore consult with a doctor or orthopaedic professional who can help them come up with a list of harmless activities and a schedule. Once the schedule has been provided, an athlete should stick to it. Specifically, while it is advisable to stop when they feel too much discomfort or pain, they should not overdo it even if they are feeling great.

Patience is very important for a full recovery after shoulder surgeries. In most cases, the arm ends up being immobilized for several weeks before passive movement can be started. After a while, active movement will then be commenced to strengthen the shoulder as well as make it flexible.

This can be extremely tiring for athletes used to high performance and a rigorous routine. However, if one wishes for full and fast recovery, sticking to the program set out by an orthopaedic professional is the only way to go.

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Good and Bad Exercise Machines After Shoulder Surgery

Premier Orthopaedics — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:26:06 +0000

Shoulder surgery can be performed for a number of reasons, either as a preventative or a repair of an existing injury. It is tempting to believe that once you have been pain-free for a while, you can return to your normal gym exercise routine. With that being said, you should be aware of what you can do and what will simply re-introduce or worsen your injury.

When to start exercising again?

About 12 weeks after surgery is the soonest you should even consider doing any sort of light resistance exercise such as exercise machines, dumbbells or barbell weights. You should already be doing a number of rehab exercises in the meantime and have full range of motion in the injured shoulder before starting any sort of resistance program. If you’re in doubt, speak to your orthopaedic surgeon or physiotherapist. Take it slowly the first couple of sessions; it’s a common mistake to add too much weight too early, which can weaken the shoulder further and delay your progress. Start with very light resistance and listen to your body, sharp pain is never acceptable and if you experience any such pain stop the exercise and take a few days off.

Exercise machines or free weights?

There are plenty of exercise machines that target the shoulder area, including dip machines, press machines and even bicep curl machines. However, machines have a very limited range of motion can put additional stress on the joint due to an unnatural path that has to be followed. Instead of using exercise machines, consider using dumbbells as part of your shoulder rehab program. A good program should work on both improving flexibility in the shoulder as well as strengthening the shoulder and rotator cuff. The type of exercises you should be doing focus on strengthening the muscles around the shoulder while not placing additional stress on the joint.

Sample exercises

The following are some simple dumbbell exercises that can be added to your shoulder rehab routine. Again, make sure you start with very light weights, and stop at the slightest feeling of sharp pain. If you’re uncertain whether you should be embarking on a free weight routine, speak to your orthopaedic doctor or physiotherapist before doing any of these exercises:

Retractions and protractions: Retraction refers to pulling your shoulder blades together, while protraction refers to the motion of extending your shoulder blade. Set up as by bracing your off-hand on a bench and bending at the hips, then take a light dumbbell and keeping your back and arm straight, retract your shoulder blade, hold, then relax. Protractions are done by lying on the bench, arm in the air and extending the shoulder upwards, away from the bench.

Cuban rotations: Doing these will help improve mobility in your shoulder joint. Start with two light dumbbells at your side and your forearms perpendicular to your arms. Raise your arms, and then raise your forearms until they are perpendicular to the floor, keeping your elbows bent at 90 degrees.

Band exercises: Pull-aparts, dislocates and presses can also help with your shoulder recovery without too much strain on the joint as they are very light resistance exercises and tend to focus more on stretching out the muscles and improving flexibility rather than building strength. Most of these exercises will work on scapular retraction and protraction.

Exercise machines are not ideal for people recovering from shoulder injury as they tend to force an unnatural motion path, putting strain on the joint. Rather, do range of motion and exercises that increase shoulder strength and mobility either through dumbbells or bands and always use light weights. For more information about shoulder surgery and recovery, download our free eBook, The Pre-Operative Guide to Shoulder Surgery.

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Diet Before Shoulder Surgery

Premier Orthopaedics — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:36:13 +0000

Getting ready for any major surgery involves some worry and the need to make some advanced preparations. One of the biggest preparations includes adjusting your diet. The right diet before surgery can make your recovery easier.

Nutrition Counts

A healthy, nutritious diet is important at any stage of life. However, a highly nutritious diet is even more important before surgery. Your body needs vitamins and minerals to promote quick healing. An adequate amount of protein in your diet will also help the muscles to grow back stronger after surgery. Make sure you also include a good amount of calcium-rich foods, like dairy products, seafood and leafy greens; this will help your bones heal.

Avoid Crash Diets

Right before surgery is not the time to go on any crash diets to try to lose weight. Crash diets are generally low in calories, which means that it is difficult to get all the nutrients your diet needs from food sources alone. Crash diets are not nutritionally balanced enough to create a healthy state for your body when you are recovering from shoulder surgery.

Amp up the Fiber

It is also really important to increase the amount of fiber in your diet before surgery. Anesthesia and pain medications used during and immediately after surgery have an unfortunate side effect of causing constipation, which can make your recovery period much more uncomfortable. If you consume enough fiber before surgery, it can decrease the negative effects of post-surgical constipation.

Lower Fat Intake

A recent study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that a lower-fat diet in the days leading up to surgery can actually boost your recovery process. The study found that lower fat intake before surgery could reduce the risk of inflammation and surgical infections.

Drink Enough Water

Drinking an adequate amount of water during the days leading up to surgery can help you have an easier recovery. In addition to reducing constipation from the anesthesia and post-surgical pain medication, drinking enough water can prevent post-operative dehydration. Adequate hydration also makes it easier for hospital staff to insert an intravenous line.

Diet the Day of Surgery

Your doctor or doctor’s representatives will have guidelines for you to follow regarding the dietary restrictions immediately leading up to the day of the surgery. In general, you will be required to avoid eating any food or drinking any liquids for several hours before the surgery. Avoiding food and drinks before surgery can protect you from having dangerous complications during the procedure, especially resulting from the anesthesia. Following these easy dieting tips prior and post surgery will immensely ease your road to recovery.

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