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How long is the recovery for a shoulder dislocation surgery?
While playing baseball, I dislocated my shoulder when I was pitching 4 weeks ago. I had surgery almost immediately after, and now I'm in recovery. I still have the sling around my arm. How much longer would I need to keep it in place?
8 Answers
Sling x 6 weeks, then PT x 6 weeks, 4 months to return to sport.
Minimum of three months, but one year is not unusual.
I usually protect with a sling for 8 weeks. Full recovery to a throwing sport will be much longer
You need to discuss with your surgeon as every surgeon has post surgery specific protocol depending on the damage and specific surgical procedure performed
It depends upon the repair. My protocol is sling for 5-6 weeks followed by physical therapy for active/active assist ROM. I refrain from weight bearing activity and throwing until 3 months post op. At that time, it is a slow progression.
In my practice, patients stay in the sling full time for four weeks. After that, you wear the sling just “out of the house” for two weeks but start transitioning out of the sling around the house during that time. So you are done with the sling by 6 weeks. And that’s when therapy starts in earnest.
James Larson
That would be up to your doctor and depends on exactly what he did. Generally you wear a sling afterwards 4 to 6 weeks after this type of surgery.
Depends on how old you are, but in general, 6-12 weeks.