Removal of stitches and first physio therapy session

March 29th



After two weeks of mainly resting without many news to report, today was finally getting me excited! Two things were scheduled for today:

1.       Removing the Stitches
2.       First session of physiotherapy
I went to the GP in the morning to get my stitches removed. They briefly checked the wound, found everything looks alright and went ahead. The removal itself was very quick and the only thing I felt was a tugging sensation when they were pulling out the thread.  While the procedure was rather unexciting, being finally able to shower without water proof bandage is just another small win that I celebrate! Besides, the incision looks great already after only two weeks. It's approximately 5 cm long and very thin. 
Latarjet incision with stitchesLatarjet incision without stitches

I went to physiotherapy in the afternoon and I was really looking forward to that. My therapist knew the Latarjet procedure and had treated a few patients in the past, however I was the first one that he treated in Frankfurt. Another indication that you have to pick surgeon and therapist carefully, Latarjet is simply not that common.
During the 30 min session he mainly moved my arm and tested my current limits. We were able to move my arm within the planned ranges for two weeks post-surgery which for me is: Abduction: 60°, Flex: 60°, external rotation: 10°, internal rotation: 70°. I didn’t feel any pain and the shoulder didn’t feel too stiff within those boundaries. External rotation was the hardest but is also something that will be worked on later.
In terms of recovery, the therapist was very confident that I will be able to do bodyweight training (pushups, pullups etc.)  and he said I could even go back to lifting weights if I wanted to. He also showed me some exercises that I can do at home to improve the range of motion. I’m doing:
I will do that now every day for 10-15 minutes and will continue to rest my arm outside of the sling from time to time when I’m laying on the sofa.

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks to make progress on the range of motion.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why I picked the Latarjet procedure -- A little bit of context

Image
I decided to write about my experience with the Latarjet procedure because I found it very hard to find information from patients that underwent this (still today) very specific treatment of chronic recurrent shoulder instability. I am 32 years old and live in Frankfurt, Germany. I personally have had a long history of shoulder instability. It all started when I was 17 and dislocated my right shoulder for the first time while playing Badminton in physical education at school. And no, I was not falling… Just performing an overhead strike with a lot of force and there went my shoulder… My teacher was shocked and didn’t know what to do so we called the ambulance who put me into full anesthesia on the spot and repositioned the shoulder. I woke up in the hospital with some pain, but the shoulder seemed to be fine to me. I underwent x-rays and MRI examination and the diagnosis was that the labrum had be torn apart and the doctors suggested to perform an arthroscopic stabilization which is
Read more

Eight weeks post Latarjet surgery - Follow up examination

Image
May 14 th I am eight weeks post Latarjet surgery now and the recovery process seems to be going well. Everything so far has progressed according to plan. I continued to do passive shoulder movement exercises with therapists and at home until the 5 th week which is when we started assisted movements. After the sixth week, physical therapy progressed to more active movements and there were no movement restrictions anymore. We pushed the limit day by day; the main guidance was pain and when I felt that we reached the maximum of what was possible. It is really important to never do things that are painful. Always stop when it starts to hurt. So, I am now eight weeks in and I am able to use my right arm almost normally in my daily activities. Step by step I started brushing my teeth again with the right hand, cleaning dishes, etc. All movements are allowed as long as I don’t feel pain and as long as I am not carrying heavy things. Also, external rotation in high abduction i
Read more