Shoulder Chronicles: 6 Weeks In

Yesterday, Friday, January 6th I had my 6 week follow up visit with Dr. Cooper. 6 weeks was the “magic” number of weeks that you need to be in a sling with a shoulder fracture. When I was first injured, that is what Dr. Paisley at the Snowbird Clinic mentioned and then when I first met with Dr. Cooper he indicated the same. Based on how things were going and my initial injury, I was skeptical of that time and figured that I would need to remain in the sling longer. However, as I was entering the 6th week I had noticeably less pain in certain positions and was able to keep my sling off with arm hanging at my side longer (something I had been doing for relief from early on). I was also able to do a bit more with my right hand and arm although I still hadn’t tried to move the shoulder as I wanted to only do that based on the Dr. recommendations. In my mind, I was still unsure really whether just being immobilized in a sling and then PT was all that I was going to need and I feared that I would still need surgery or have other issues despite the PA previously telling me she didn’t think so. I was just nervous and tending to be the realist (or pessimist), I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much.

I was highly anticipating this Dr. visit because of all of this and the 6 week milestone and was curious to see how things looked on the X Ray. During my previous visit, the PA had told me that at the 6 week visit they would likely be able to see a lot of actual healing of the bone which further enhanced my anticipation.

I arrived at the Dr. office and they took the X Rays and Dr. Cooper came in shortly thereafter. He had me take the shoulder out of the sling for the first time since prior visits he indicated he did not need to move it or see it and could tell all he needed from the X Rays and MRI. He said the X Rays looked good and not operating was definitely the right call (thankfully, no surgery!). In doing some brief movements of the shoulder, he said it was time to start doing small movements to begin regaining mobility and reduce the stiffness. He said I could start eliminating the sling initially around the house but still wearing it when out and about and to gradually ween myself which I was somewhat surprised about even though this was the “standard” timeframe. I was quite pleased to hear this and am looking forward to less time with circulation cutoff, velcro not holding and just being restricted in the sling.

When we discussed physical therapy, I asked about aquatic therapy since I had done some research and came across a lot of information indicating its benefits and several places in the area that offered it. From my perspective, it seemed like doing PT in the pool would be low impact and allow the buoyancy of the water to help reduce the effort required of atrophied muscles. Dr. Cooper said that initially that isn’t something he thought would be necessary and said these coming weeks would just be very small movements. He said for these 6 weeks, I would work on this small movement PT and regain mobility and then he would see me again and evaluate. From that point forward, he mentioned that we would then start to “push” me. I still plan to inquire about aquatic from the therapist and continue to research all of my options.

From the outset of this injury, I knew from discussions with friends and families with shoulder injuries and my own experience that the PT was going to be painful and require a lot of work so have been preparing myself mentally for it. Moving muscles that have been stationary for weeks combined with built up scar tissue and bone healing work was not something that would be easy or fast. However, I want to work hard to get my arm back and be able to do the things I love again.