Me and my chronically unstable shoulder

December 12 th It's been a while since my last update - Life happened and I am actually writing from California now :) I am now almost exactly 8 months after my Latarjet surgery and I am very happy with the results so far. I was using my arm normally in daily activities by the eighth week post surgery and steadily kept on improving. In total I went to 30 sessions of physical therapy - usually twice a week - and we mainly worked on increasing range of movement in the first few weeks but added strength exercises in the final 3-4 weeks. I've had most trouble with external and internal rotation. At some point we focused a lot on improving external rotation - which is not easy, not fun and requires some true dedication - but forgot about internal rotation. At my final exam with my surgeon he also noted that my internal rotation could be slightly better but everything else was well. So in the remaining weeks and until now I've worked on increasing my internal rotation and I...

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...

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.  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 ...