Orthopedic surgeon Patrick Denard explains postoperative shoulder replacement care. Remove the dressing after two days and shower normally, but skip pools for weeks. You can drive with a sling after two weeks if you're off narcotic pain meds. Desk workers return in a week; manual laborers need several months.
When can I shower after shoulder replacement? Well, in most cases, we close the skin with absorbable sutures in a running manner with glue that goes over the top of the incision site. So the dressing is taken off 2 days after the procedure. You can then shower at that point in time, let water run over it and pat it dry. When it comes to actually submersing yourself in water, I typically advise waiting a couple of weeks to get in things like a hot tub or pool. When can I drive after a shoulder replacement? Well, 2 things to consider here. Number one, there's a study that shows that people can safely drive with a sling on 2 weeks after shoulder surgery. Now, I have people drive sooner than that. That's just what the data shows, that you're safe at the 2-week point. The second requirement is that you're off narcotic pain medication because that, of course, is going to impair you just like any other substance. Fortunately, that's usually not the case at a couple weeks. Most of my patients are off of narcotic pain medication within a couple of days. In fact, 30% of them don't take a single narcotic after a shoulder replacement. When can I return to work? Well, this really depends on the type of work you do. This is an individual discussion. If somebody's doing desk work, it is possible for them to go back to surgery within a Now, I usually advise at least taking a week off just to kind of get your bearings back. Focus on healing first. A little bit of work or effort in the beginning will benefit you in the long term. If you're talking about heavy, heavy activity, somebody who's doing manual labor activity, this may be several months down the line. Full restriction or full release to activities is typically at 6 months, but we can do that in a gradually progressive manner that allows you to get back. And what we try to do is just work with everybody on an individual basis to meet their needs and get them back as quickly as possible. possible.
