A shoulder injury can be painful. Not only does it hurt, but it can also throw you out of your physical fitness routine. If you are a professional athlete, it can put your career on pause. The truth of the matter is that you want to be patient when it comes to recovery. On top of that, you want to know how to properly recover. If you don’t take the necessary steps, you may wind up re-injuring yourself. On top of that, you may be in more pain. Thankfully, there are a few different ways to recover – all with their own pros and cons. You could go the extreme route and get surgery or you can see if your shoulder heals on its own with other methods. However, if your doctor recommends surgery, you probably want to get surgery. Here is how to recover from a shoulder injury.
- Keep it immobile – when you suffer from a shoulder injury, you don’t want to move your arm. Ideally, you want to keep your shoulder in a splint. This is critical if you don’t want to cause the injury to become worse. If your shoulder pain is resultant from dislocation, you may have to pop it back into place and then place it in a split to reduce the bruising and swelling.
- Put it in a cast – if a splint does not work, you may need to put your arm in a cast. This is especially important if you have just received a compound fracture or hairline fracture. Typically, sprains don’t need casts. In most cases, your doctor will place the cast on your arm. If the break was a compound fracture, you may need a bigger cast that keeps your shoulder immobile and elevated at the same time. Elevation is key when you are recovering from a shoulder injury.
- Get surgery – if the fracture is particularly bad and nerves are affected, you may have to undergo surgery. Most of the time, surgeries are necessary if your shoulder doesn’t heal on its own. Moreover, if your shoulder is experiencing degeneration opposed to healing, you will definitely need surgery. If you don’t go under, you could risk worsening the injury. The longer you leave an injury, the worse it can get if you don’t treat the issue as per your doctor’s orders.
- Go to a physical therapist – a center like Results Physiotherapy will offer quality physical therapy so that you can heal much faster. If your shoulder injury is resultant from a sports injury, or work related injury, you will need to undergo physical therapy to properly regain your strength and muscles. If you try to do this on your own, you could cause another injury.
- Take a swim – this may seem counterintuitive, but it can work. Swimming can help you recover from your shoulder injury, because it can help you regain your strength. If you don’t have a pool, you may want to head over to a public pool and do some laps. In the end, a swim will also release endorphins, which will make you feel better too.