Reverse Shoulder Replacement more questions!

[leonberg]

I have a few more questions and one of the biggest ones is how much range of motion patients have after RSR.
The OS went over so many things with me but I don't think he touched on that. Is it true that you can't reach behind your back? If you can how far? I have never had great ROM so maybe i won't see that as a problem but it sure would be nice to know ahead of time! The other question is about the ice cuff. My place only issues ice packs. Is it a good idea to try and buy one ahead of time? The hosiptal uses a program online but they don't make the information available until closer to the surgery date. I want to be really well prepared. thank you

 

[djklaugh]

@leonberg Your ultimate range of motion with any shoulder replacement is going to depend on many factors. The first factor is HEAL FIRST then work on ROM and strength. I've had 2 shoulder replacements - standard not reverse ones - and I can not hook a bra behind my back (for me I think the surgeries made each arm a bit shorter than it use to be) and can not do the crawl stroke when swimming. But that is just me. Also for me the left shoulder does not have quite as good ROM as the right one .... not sure why. But I am able to do everything else necessary to have a pain free, functional life! Another factor is how long your shoulder has been having problems. The longer the pain and dysfunction has gone on, the more out of shape the muscles and tendons will be and therefore it will take longer to get them back to proper functioning. So it is important to get PT and to do that diligently but also slowly so that you do not damage muscles and tendons already traumatized by surgery. What I did for my shoulders was to go for PT visits every two weeks and do the exercises they gave me every day as prescribed. It took about 4-5 months for each shoulder to be "finished" according to the PT folks .... but each continued to gain ROM and strength even after PT was done.

Because reverse replacements are usually done when there is rotator cuff (or other tendon or muscle) damage in addition to arthritis damage the way the implant works is different from the ones used for standard replacements. This would be something to ask your surgeon to explain.

There is an article in our library here that may explain more though the research mentioned is not current. https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads...-shoulder-replacement-post-op-mobility.68933/

 

[leonberg]

thank you so much for your reply.

 

[Markieamark]

Thank you for these questions! It help's me in my prep for RSR in May.