Shoulder surgery can allow a patient to return to some of their favorite activities, but that doesn’t mean you’ll just be able to jump back into them once surgery is complete. This is especially true if you’re interested in jumping back into athletics. Maybe you want to play 18 holes on the golf course or shoot hoops in the driveway with your grandson. Shoulder surgery can allow you to get back to these activities, but you need to be smart about how you approach your return to sport following a shoulder operation. In today’s blog, we share some tips for ensuring you safely return to athletics following shoulder surgery.
Returning To Sport After A Shoulder Operation
If you want to get back to doing some of the physical activities you love following shoulder surgery, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind.
- Start Slow – You don’t want to overload your shoulder before it’s ready and end up back on the operating table. Even when it’s performed using minimally invasive techniques, shoulder surgery is a major trauma on the shoulder. You need to give it time to recover and to strengthen it so that it can handle the rigors of sport. Slowly build up your tolerance and confidence in the shoulder with modified activities before you dip your toes back into a specific sporting activity.
- Physical Therapy Will Be Your Best Friend – You will likely be referred to a physical therapist following your shoulder operation, and they’ll be your best friend during your recovery. They can obviously focus on normal things following a shoulder procedure, like improving strength, stability, flexibility and physical function, but if you ask them, they can also set you up with exercises that can prepare you for specific activities. If confidently and safely swinging a golf club is a goal of yours, let your PT know, and they’ll make sure they work on improving your shoulder such that this action can be performed to the best of your ability. Follow your PT program and let your physical therapist know about your sport-specific goals.
- Stretch – Before any physical activity, it’s imperative that you take some time to warm up and stretch your shoulder and whole body prior to activity. Even if you’ve made some great strides and are taking on more physical tasks with your shoulder, they still benefit from a little time to prepare for upcoming stress. Help ligaments and muscles get loose and ready for movements to come. If you don’t effectively warm up, you’ll be at an increased risk for strains and tears. Take a couple minutes before physical activity to help your surgically repaired shoulder get ready for upcoming movement.
- Listen to Your Body – If something doesn’t feel right in your shoulder, call it quits for the day and go rest and ice the area. If you try to push through the pain, you could make the problem much worse. Shutting it down early and doing some therapy exercises over the course of the next week can prevent a bigger issue that may require months of rehab or another surgery. As you take on more physical challenges after surgery, learn how to listen to your body to see how it’s responding to stress, and act accordingly based on the signs.
- Trust Your Surgery To Dr. Holloway – Finally, if you really want to give your shoulder the best chance to make a strong recovery, trust your shoulder operation to a surgeon that specializes in shoulder procedures. You only get one body, so trust your surgery to someone with a deep knowledge of the shoulder instead of someone with a wide breadth of experience on hips, knees and other joints. You want someone who has successfully performed your same shoulder procedure countless times, and you’ll find that with Dr. Holloway. If you want your shoulder to be surgically addressed as best as can be, go with a specialist who has a proven track record of rejuvenating damaged shoulders.
To learn more about how Dr. Holloway can help you return to the sports you love, reach out to Dr. Holloway’s office today at (865) 410-7887.
