Recovery after orthopedic surgery, week by week
Post Op Physio Recovery A stiff shoulder after rotator cuff surgery is common, usually settles within a year, and early on is often a sign the repair is holding. How it differs from frozen shoulder and a re-tear, what helps, and the hidden infection to rule out.
The largest trial of frozen shoulder treatment found physio with an injection, manipulation under anesthetic and keyhole surgery all ended up about the same at one year. Surgery was worse early on. The sensible order to try them in.
Frozen shoulder usually takes one to three years to settle, and most people end up functionally fine. But it doesn’t always fully resolve on its own. The symptoms, the one test that tells it apart, who gets it, and when to get checked.
Rotator cuff tear arthropathy is arthritis that follows a large, long-standing cuff tear, often leaving a shoulder you can’t lift yourself. Why it happens, the 50-degree test that guides treatment, the deltoid retraining program, and when reverse replacement makes sense.
Subacromial bursitis causes pain at the front and outer shoulder, worse lifting the arm and at night. Most people improve with exercise within weeks. What a scan finding really means, what helps, why surgery rarely does, and the rare version that’s an emergency.
Shoulder impingement causes pain lifting the arm, especially overhead and at night. Progressive strengthening is the best treatment. Decompression surgery did no better than a fake operation over ten years. Symptoms, what helps, and how long it takes.
Rotator cuff tendinitis usually isn’t inflammation, which is why anti-inflammatories rarely fix it. Exercise that loads the tendon for at least 12 weeks works best. Symptoms, who gets it, what helps, how much pain is OK, and how long it takes.
Rotator cuff tears are common with age and often cause no pain. Most painful gradual-onset tears improve with physio, but a sudden tear with weakness needs early specialist review. Partial vs full thickness, whether tears grow, and when surgery makes sense.
ACL reconstruction recovery takes 9 to 12 months before cutting sport. The month-by-month timeline, why months three to six are the riskiest, the four things that matter most early on, and when to call your surgeon.
Bunion surgery recovery: about six weeks in a post-op shoe, roomy normal shoes from six to eight weeks, most activities by three months, and swelling that can last up to a year. Why your operation type changes everything, week by week.