So you took the plunge and went under the knife to get that nagging shoulder injury taken care of once and for all. But apart from a bottle full of painkillers and an enormous sling, what do you have to show for it? Once you've done your time sitting on the couch in a stupor (and sleeping on it, in most cases), it's time to deal with the realities of having an arm that may not be very useful for a while. Depending on what you do for a living, going back to work is just one of those realities.
Instructions
1. Take a shower. It won't be very easy, because that shoulder is healing. Getting your shirt off can be a major problem. Remove the sling first. It's going to feel weird until you've had a chance to start rehabbing the shoulder and having it out of the sling for longer periods of time. Lift the shirt up over your good shoulder and your head. Then you can slide it around and off your other arm.
2. Get dressed. Unfortunately, you're going to have to get used to not having an arm for a while, so getting dressed can be a challenge, especially if it's your good arm that's laid up. You'll have to learn to do things with your other arm until your surgically repaired shoulder becomes more useful. The same goes for making and eating breakfast.
3. Get in your car and drive. Luckily, a surgically repaired rotator cuff really doesn't have that much effect on driving, unless you just can't seem to control your arm that's not on the fritz. If your right arm is in the sling, you're going to have to do everything with your left arm, and vice versa. The only time this will really become an obstacle is if you have a stick shift. Look into trading cars for a bit with someone who has two good arms.
4. Do your job. Depending on what that job is, this could be a reasonable task or it could be impossible. If you have a desk job in which you do a lot of typing and related activities, it's actually pretty easy to get back in the swing of things. In fact, you can even take your arm out of the sling from time to time and use your hand for office activities. If you spend your days changing tires or pounding nails, you may want to think about either finding another line of work or getting time off until you've had sufficient time to heal.
5. Switch your sling. After about a month in the big sling (sometimes less, depending on the severity of the injury) you'll want to go with something a little less constricting and a lot less cumbersome. Get a small sling from any drugstore and wear that. Also, seize any opportunity you have to get your arm out of the sling. This will help to keep muscle atrophy to a minimum.
Tags: your sling, Depending what, going have, sling from, surgically repaired