When can the shoulder bear weight again? A com­mon question:

My right should­er’s ro­ta­tor cuff is torn, and I need sur­gery. How long is the re­co­very, and when can I (at 53) cy­cle or play ten­nis again?

To­day, ro­ta­tor cuff re­pairs are al­most al­ways per­for­med ar­thro­sco­pi­cally, mea­ning mi­ni­mally in­va­si­vely. This en­su­res ma­xi­mum soft tis­sue pre­ser­va­tion for the pa­ti­ent. As the shoulder must per­form a va­riety of ro­ta­tio­nal, ex­ten­sion, and strength mo­ve­ments, se­ve­ral things need to be con­side­red af­ter the operation:

The hos­pi­tal stay ty­pi­cally lasts two nights. For the first four weeks, stre­nuous ac­ti­vi­ties and weight-bea­ring must be strictly avo­ided to al­low the ro­ta­tor cuff to heal. With good he­al­ing pro­gress, you can re­sume light daily ac­ti­vi­ties af­ter a few days, while pro­tec­ting the ope­ra­ted shoulder.

Ap­pro­xi­m­ately four weeks af­ter the pro­ce­dure is a good time to be­gin phy­sio­the­rapy. From then on, you can also get back on your sta­tio­nary bike. The ope­ra­ted shoulder is ty­pi­cally fully func­tional again af­ter 10–12 weeks at the la­test. Then, resuming

sports like ten­nis or golf will no lon­ger be an issue.