How long did anyone wait to paddle after shoulder surgery??

stinginrivers · 05-16-2004

Just curious how long anyone has waited to paddle after shoulder surgery? I had an anterior reconstruction 4 months ago and it feels really good but still not 100%. My doc and PT are saying not for awhile yet but I am starting to jones pretty hard to get on the water.

Thanks for any insight.

Danny

medman · 05-17-2004

I would listen to the docs and PT people; if not you won't be paddling for a long time and maybe not ever again. Sorry for the bad news.

erdvm1 · 05-17-2004

I only had a SLAP lesion repair via arthroscope. I didn't paddle for 4 months. I would imagine a reconstruction should take 6months to a year. Hang in there don't waste it all on one day paddling. BTW I have heard that hand paddling is a lot better than using a paddle after major shoulder surgery..........

kayakingkate · 05-17-2004

I had a full bankhardt repair in August, first got in my boat in Feb (when boulder creek used to run at night in the winter.) Swam my first time out. Took it easy paddling one or two nights a week just staying upright and doing PT three days a week after that (I was in grad school and had more time then.) I was back in for melt and was paddling class 5 by the end of the summer- not well, but this had nothing to do with the surgery. I find this shoulder is more stable than the one that was not put back together, but I still have to take it easy at the beginning of every season. If I lift weights it does much much better, but I'm not so good at doing this as I was for the two or three years after the surgery. It's been six or seven years now and I am soooo happy I had this done. Be conservative, but I think paddling at a res or on calm water (Not until it hurts.) will give you a gage and help build up the muscles around the joint to better support it when you are ready - although I'm not a doctor so I wouldn't really listen to my advice...

stinginrivers · 05-17-2004

Thanks for the input.. Not paddling was pretty much what I thought but sometimes it helps to hear it from others who have been through it also.

Thanks
Danny

cmsummit · 05-18-2004

I had a full bankhardt surgery on March 30 and actually first got into my boat 2 months later on Memorial Day. My doctor certainly wasn't aware of this, he didn't "clear" me for easy boating(classII) for another month, but I knew my shoulder felt well enough to do some easy class 2 flat water. I just did some simple, straight-forward paddle strokes that seemed quite similar to a lot of the PT exercises I was doing with the bungees. It was great just to get on the water and was extremely carefull with my hand/arm placement, making sure not to let my hands get behind me. After 4 months of rehab/PT, he cleared me for boating and I was able to jump into III-IV water, feeling about 90-95%. I was timid while paddling for about another month or so and paid extra attention to my hand placement on all my rolls and while playing. It wasn't until after about 8 months that I truely felt 100%. Those last few percentages take a while to come back.