🍽Diet
- Begin with clear liquids and light foods (jello, soup, toast, etc…)
- Progress slowly back to your pre-op diet as tolerated
- Try to avoid taking narcotics on an empty stomach to avoid nausea
🩹Wound Care
- Take good care of your operative dressing. You may loosen the bandage if elbow, wrist, or hand swelling occurs.
- It is normal for the shoulder to bleed slightly and swell after surgery.
- If blood soaks through the dressing, do not panic. Reinforce with additional dressings as needed.
- Remove your surgical dressing on the second post-operative day, unless instructed otherwise.
- If steri-strips are present, they should remain in place until your first post-operative visit.
- To avoid infection, keep surgical incisions clean and dry. Cover with waterproof bandages for showering. NO immersion of the arm in water (i.e., bath).
💊Medications
- A local or regional anesthetic block is often used during surgery and will wear off in approximately 8-24 hours. Begin your prescribed pain medication before the block fully wears off so you stay ahead of the pain.
- Most patients will require a short period of narcotic pain medication. This should be taken as directed on the bottle.
- Norco (hydrocodone/Tylenol) or Percocet (oxycodone/Tylenol)
- Take 1-2 tablets every 4-6 hours as needed for pain.
- Maximum of 12 pills per 24 hour period.
- Do NOT take additional Tylenol (acetaminophen) while taking these medications. Many products contain this medication (cough meds, cold meds) and can lead to liver damage.
- Common side effects of narcotic pain medications are nausea, drowsiness, and constipation. Use a stool softener (Colace, senokot) or laxative (Miralax) as needed.
- If you are having problems with nausea and vomiting, call the office to see if the medication should be changed or additional medications prescribed.
- Journavx (suzetrigine): If you were prescribed Journavx, take 2 tablets (your one-time starting dose) with a small sip of water before leaving home the morning of surgery. Then take 1 tablet every 12 hours, starting 12 hours after your first dose, as directed. Take the starting dose on an empty stomach, and avoid grapefruit while taking this medication.
- Do not drive a car or operate heavy machinery while taking narcotics.
🏃Activity
- When resting or sleeping, a reclined position (a recliner, or propped up on pillows) is usually more comfortable than lying flat.
- Keep your operative arm at your side. Do NOT actively lift the arm, reach overhead, or use the arm to push up from a chair or bed.
- Do NOT reach behind your back or out to the side, and do not let the arm rotate outward past a neutral (straight-ahead) position — these movements protect the repaired muscle and the new joint.
- Avoid combining reaching across your body with rotating your hand inward, which can stress a reverse replacement.
- Do not bear weight through the arm or lift anything heavier than a coffee cup until cleared. These precautions typically continue for about 6 weeks, and sometimes longer, per your surgeon.
- No driving until cleared by your medical team.
- You may return to sedentary, one-handed work within a few days if pain is tolerable.
🦴Sling
- You will be discharged wearing a sling. Wear it at all times, including while sleeping, except for hygiene and prescribed exercises.
- The sling is typically worn for about 4-6 weeks. Your surgeon will tell you your exact duration — often shorter for a reverse replacement, and longer if a tendon was repaired.
❄Ice Therapy
- Begin immediately after surgery
- Use ice machine or ice packs every 2 hours for 20 minutes until your first post-operative visit.
- If an ice machine was prescribed, may use continuously until first post-operative visit. Remember to protect the skin to avoid thermal injury (frostbite)
💪Exercise
- Begin elbow, wrist, and hand range of motion on the first post-operative day, several times daily, to keep them from getting stiff.
- Do NOT perform active shoulder motion (raising the arm on its own) until cleared. Gentle pendulum or passive motion may begin only as directed by your surgeon.
- Formal physical therapy will be arranged and progressed by protocol. Attendance is important — full recovery after a shoulder replacement generally takes 9-12 months.
⚠When to Call Us
Contact Dr. Wichman at 414-479-7000 if any of the following are present:
- Painful swelling or numbness
- Unrelenting pain
- Redness around incisions
- Fever (above 101.5°F) - It is not uncommon to have a low-grade fever for the first day or two following surgery.
- Color changes in fingers, hand, or arm
- Continuous drainage or bleeding from incisions (a small amount of drainage is expected.)
- Difficulty breathing
- Excessive nausea or vomiting
If you have an emergency after hours or over the weekend, call 414-479-7000 to be connected to the “on-call” physician or physician assistant. Do NOT call the hospital or surgery center.
If you have an emergency that requires immediate attention, call 911 or proceed to the nearest Emergency Room.