Sling and rehab
Roundtable · 4 threads
The sling weeks, the physiotherapy, and the slow months where the real result arrives.
The operation takes a couple of hours; getting the arm back takes the better part of a year. This section holds that long middle: the weeks in a sling, the first tentative pendulum movements, the physio appointments that feel like nothing is happening, and the slow discovery that reach and strength keep improving for months. Post your week number and someone here has stood exactly at it.
| Thread | Replies | Views | Last post |
|---|---|---|---|
| How much physiotherapy do you actually need after a shoulder replacement? The passive vs active thing is confusing me started by reverse_at_68, Jun 18, 2026 | 4 | 300 | reverse_at_68 Jul 8, 2026 |
| When can I actually drive and get back to work after a shoulder replacement? I'm self-employed and the not knowing is doing my head in started by PotteryMargaret, May 6, 2026 | 4 | 300 | PotteryMargaret Jun 20, 2026 |
| Week 5 after my replacement and the arm feels WEAKER than before the op. Is this normal, and when does it turn round? started by PotteryMargaret, Apr 22, 2026 | 4 | 340 | PotteryMargaret May 29, 2026 |
| How many weeks am I really in this sling, and when did the actual pain settle? Still sleeping bolt upright in a chair two weeks on started by onearm_gardener, Dec 3, 2025 | 4 | 280 | onearm_gardener Jan 15, 2026 |
The timeline nobody quite spells out
If one message earns repeating here, it is that a new shoulder is judged far too early. Readers describe a stiff, weak, discouraging arm at six weeks that had turned into something genuinely useful by month six, and pain almost always settles well before movement and strength catch up. The site's week-by-week shoulder replacement recovery and the guide to physiotherapy after shoulder replacement show what each stage normally looks like and why the rehab, not the operation alone, makes the result.
The same patience applies to strength and reach. The sling protects the repair for the first weeks, active movement is added on the surgeon's schedule, and most readers say the arm they actually wanted turned up somewhere between month six and the first anniversary.
Patience has limits worth knowing, though. Spreading redness, a fever, a wound that is weeping, sudden new weakness, or pain that climbs rather than eases is a same-day call to your surgical team, not a wait-and-see post.