Recovering from shoulder labrum surgery

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trifona
trifona Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 8 weeks out since having surgery to repair a torn posterior labrum in my left shoulder. Physical Therapy is underway but currently I am limited from lifting anything weighing more than 5lbs at least until my next check-up in January. Therapy at this point is still mostly stretching for ROM and light strength training using bands.

I haven't exercised at all since September, and have lost a good amount of muscle and have gained 10-15lbs since then. It's been hard to maintain a semblance of a diet while my activity is limited. I am pretty confident that once I am physically healthy again I will be able to quickly recover my lost ground based on what I learned over the last 18 months about how my body reacts to certain activities and diet.

Anybody else go through this surgery and can share what their recovery was like, what type of exercise they were able to do during this recovery period, and how soon before you were able to really push the shoulder again? I want to get back to doing the cardio and body weight exercises I was doing that helped me get down from 290lbs to 220lbs before I needed surgery

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  • ansonrinesmith
    ansonrinesmith Posts: 755 Member
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    I had the same surgery about 4 years ago. I was able to use a stationary bike, and just sit upright, so I wasn't putting pressure on my shoulder. It took me almost a full year before I felt like I had 100% use of my shoulder and being pain free. I couldn't do the things I loved like softball or flag football, but I'm glad I didn't try to get back to soon, otherwise I might be battling it still.
  • trifona
    trifona Posts: 15 Member
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    I have full range of motion already 8 weeks after surgery. PT at this point is focused on the initial stages of strength training using elastic bands for resistance. I'm hoping of being capable enough to do push-ups within 4-8 weeks depending on my progress since my surgeon's original estimate for resuming normal activities was 12-16 weeks. We'll see though, because I am still very tender in the joint whenever I apply any pressure against something using the arm.

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