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Dr. Rockwood, Jr. discusses how soon a woman can return to her active lifestyle after a rotator cuff injury.
Dr. Rockwood, Jr.:
It depends on who you go see. Our experience has been if the patient does indeed have a ruptured cuff and you have to do surgery, I tell the patient as soon as they wake up from surgery, I want them to start some gentle motion using the good arm to raise the bad arm, to do a little exercise and where they’re just doing gentle motion, gradually increase the motion, gradually let them do more activities of daily living activities.
So we are pretty aggressive in the way we manage it, contrary to, to many other people. They feel like you should rest the shoulder. You should put the shoulder into an immobilizer and rest it three or four weeks, five weeks, and then gradually start your therapy. I think we can, we have seen we’ve gotten motion back quicker by doing early activities as opposed to waiting for three or four weeks before we start our rehab.
Well, but ordinarily about three months the patient is back able to use their arm for everyday living activities. If it’s a female who is really involved in heavy sports and does a lot of sports, it may take four or five months before she will get back to a competitive level.
About Dr. Rockwood, Jr., M.D.:
Charles A. Rockwood, Jr., M.D., continues to perform complex shoulder surgery in his private practice, and as a consultant, lends his expertise to other orthopaedic surgeons throughout the country. Dr. Rockwood has authored numerous journal articles and audiovisual presentations and has served as editor of several textbooks.
Visit Dr. Rockwood, Jr. at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio