I would say yes, only in this setting when you’ve had an injury. Otherwise, you’re kind of wasting your time. Seriously. If you fall or something happens to where you go from having a pretty normal shoulder to a severely painful shoulder and you can’t use your arm, you should go into the ER. If…
We’ve evolved in surgery massively. I tell patients that contemporary shoulder surgery done with modern techniques, anesthesia, pain medicine protocols, and rehab techniques is not nearly what it was 15 or 20 years ago. Anytime you go inside someone’s body and change something, there’s going to be some discomfort. There’s just no way around that…
Just take it easy. The majority of our patients get a nerve block. The advantage is that you don’t feel anything in the operative shoulder for the first one to two days. The disadvantage is that you can’t move your arm because the nerves are blocked. They’re numb. So that’s when you’re wearing the sling…
Two things typically tear in the shoulder. One would be the ligaments or capsule of the shoulder, which is instability right where your shoulder is coming in and out of the socket. It feels unstable. The second would be the rotator cuff, which is a muscle that turns into a tendon and typically presents itself…
If you’re having severe shoulder pain, it’s probably a good idea to go in and get it checked to figure out what the problem is from a shoulder specialist. There are certain tools and things that we have that can fix pain, like cortisone shots and sometimes operations too. But if you’re at home and…
This is what I’ve spent my entire life trying to figure out how to do as a shoulder specialist. In general, if you’re getting some aches and pains when you’re working out, I think the first thing to do is just pay attention to what you’re doing and try to modify your activities. What hurts?…
I think anytime the pain has been present for more than a couple of weeks and is negatively impacting your life. You can’t sleep, can’t do something you want to do, it bothers you throughout the day, or it stops you from doing certain activities. If it’s impacting your quality of life in any negative…
What do I need at home after shoulder surgery? Nothing special, honestly. No special equipment is needed, and no special devices are needed. People focus on having to have a recliner. You don’t need to sleep in a recliner. We recommend against it. We have ways that you could sleep in your bed. You could…
How do you shower by yourself after shoulder surgery? You can easily shower after shoulder surgery. For 99% of the procedures you perform, we’re okay with you actively lifting and moving your arm around. You can wash your hair and body, but you won’t damage the surgery by doing that. As an expert Shoulder Surgeon…
What is the best support after shoulder surgery? We give patients slings, but we’re anti-sling. We don’t force you to wear it, and we tell people to work themselves out of it and try to bring yourself off that sling as quickly as possible. if you don’t want to wear it, don’t wear it; if…
