Ever wonder how one gets dressed after shoulder replacement surgery?
One of the most endearing things about the VA was how the patients seem to have a natural inclination to support one another. Perhaps the shared experience of having served brings about an intuitive closeness, or perhaps those who choose to serve already possess a predisposition to want to help others. Regardless, it is not uncommon to walk into a waiting room and see one patient offering advice to another, such as the easiest way to pull up one's pants with one arm in a sling. In private practice, we have also had a number of patients who want to help make the process easier for other patients experiencing what they have.
Here are some tips from a few of our wonderful patients:
I found a velcro shirt online. I got mine at Etsy, but I am sure other places have these types of shirts. My shirt had a velcro opening all the way across the top of the shoulder and down the side of the whole shirt. It was extremely painful to try to put on a shirt right after surgery. I was so glad I found that shirt. I really don't know what I would have done without that velcro shirt. One of my friends was going to borrow it after his shoulder surgery, but he had surgery on the wrong side, hahaha.
-Max
We rubbed an essential oil on the shoulder sometimes to help with pain, called Deep Blue, which you can order from DoTerra. We also set up a mock physical therapy office type of place in the garage because we could not afford to go too often. It looked nothing like the physical therapy place, but you just got to think outside of the box. I was faithful in doing my exercises and had a good recovery (time and pain wise). We also went out and bought elastic shorts and button up shirts and that type of clothing helped. It was easy to get dressed and kept me from moving the shoulder too much right after surgery.
A staff member at Dillard's helped me find a convertible bra that can be adjusted so that I didn't have to wear a strapless bra after shoulder replacement surgery or have the straps go over my incision. The straps could be adjusted to connect to the back and the other side so that it would still have support, but not irritate my recently replaced shoulder. I'd highly recommend it to other ladies undergoing shoulder replacement surgery.
By Oklahoma Shoulder Center PLLC
September 1, 2019
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