Yoga with a rotator cuff surgery

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hello!

I’m fairly new to yoga. I used to practice a little a few years ago but I’m basically a first timer. I recently went through rotator cuff surgery and am in the early stages of the healing process. I plan to request clearance from my Dr. to do yoga practice again as I feel that it will do wonders in the recovery phase of this injury. Are there any poses/routines that would specifically benefit and aid in recovery from a surgery of this type?

I love yoga primarily for it’s stretching benefits, though I realize that there are myriad other benefits one draws from practicing yoga. I used to dance ballet for a short while, love to play golf, skateboard, and bicycle. I try to stay fit but for this accident which tore my rotator cuff. Now I’d like to really advance my flexibility and stretch and want to pursue yoga to that purpose. Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

dus’

#2

Yes, yoga can help your recovery, both with yogasana and other means. I’m sure that we can give you more specifics later.

Would you care to give us some more information? How long ago was you surgery? Do you know what muscles were injured or operated on? Is someone - like a physiotherapist - supporting your recovery process?

Good idea to get clearance from your doctor. (S)he should be able to give you an idea of how soon and how much you can use your shoulder.

#3

Hello Dusty,

Since you have already elected to be under the care of an M.D. then you are correct, it IS important for you to work in conjunction with the healthcare provider you’ve chosen. It is however the rare M.D. who has any sound idea as to what yoga actually is. Therefore your clearance should specifically outline what you can and cannot do physically with your repaired shoulder.

When the body is recovering there are two primary things needed; rest/calm and nutrition that supports the immune system and its functions. These things can be facilitated (in Yoga) by restorative poses, appropriate pranayama, meditation working with light, and of course eating helpful foods while avoiding unhelpful ones. At some point, depending on what has been repaired, when it was repaired, and how the healing process is progressing, there may be other physiological things that would help.

The shoulder joint is surrounded by the rotator cuff. The “cuff” itself is comprised of five muscles; supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis. The joint is not a ball and socket joint like the hip and therefore it requires more to stabilize the joint itself. So for this particular situation additional flexibility and stretch would not be helpful but would likely destabilize the joint.

Furthermore, some things in the physical practice do not lead to security in this joint. And it appears that some teachers do not have the requisite skill to teach a student how to use the upper arm bone, the shoulder blade, and the serratus anterior in order to keep the shoulder safe in asana. So if you are intending to pursue the practice under the watchful eye of a teacher, please find a sound one.

#4

Thank you both for your advise and wisdom. Yes, I will discuss my goals with my Dr. and get a good idea of what can and cannot be done with the shoulder. The surgery was recent. Just one week ago last Thursday. I have worked my way to being out of the sling most of the day now and doing some minor things with the arm. Of course, the exercises prescribed by the hospital PT. I have my post op check up this Wednesday morning and will discuss with the Dr. then. He did arthroscopic surgery, so there was minimal invasion. As minimal as it could get, anway. I believe it was the supraspinatus tendon that was torn. I’m sure that sometime after this Wednesdays meeting he will be placing me on PT as well. I am off work currently and haven’t been given a back to work date yet. From talking with others who’ve undergone the surgery it looks like two to four months of recovery before work is authorized by the Dr. But I hope to be able to engage in some light workout and yoga as part of the recuperative process. I am 47 years old and in fair shape. I keep active with bicycling and eat pretty healthy. I avoid fast foods and most of my own cooking (when my daughter isn’t doing it) and so I’m hoping that a fairly healthy lifestyle will also contribute to a quicker recovery, knowing all along however, that tendons are slow repairs. Thanks again. I don’t have a teacher here in my area that I’ve been able to discover yet so I’ll be pursuing yoga at home for the most part, unless I luckily run across one in the near future.

dus’

#5

Dear Dusty,

I’ve thought about your question for a while. In answering I have taken into account that your surgery is really recent, that you are fairly new to yoga and that you have no yoga teacher or yogatherapist nearby.

In my opinion, your best bet is to follow the advise of your hospital PT and to follow the advice of the PT that your surgeon will assign to you. Undoubtedly some exercises will be prescribed that you can do on your own. You will have the PT nearby when you have questions about the exercises. In other word, don’t do any yogasana on your own for the coming weeks or months. You can use other elements of yoga that will improve your healing: proper nutrition, proper rest, light breathing exercises, relaxation (e.g. yoga nidra) or meditation. You can even do the PT exercises on the rhythm of your breath, eg inhale move, exhale move back.

Keep moving within your current boundaries. And adapt the way you do things. For example, if you like to cycle adjust the handlebars so that there is less weight on your arms.

When you do start with yogasana in due course, you may still need to modify the asana. Eg. in standing poses like warrior keep your hands on your hips instead of lifting them to the sky. Avoid all weight bearing poses for your shoulder (e.g. downward dog, plank, chaturanga, shoulderstand) for months until a teacher has shown you how to properly align your shoulders. Shoulders should be back and down and you need to “plug” your shoulder into the body. This can only be taught face to face by a teacher with a background in alignment based yoga.

Much as would like to, I cannot prescribe you any yogasana for the moment. Healing from surgery and newness to yoga calls for face to face guidance.

Best wishes for your recovery.

#6

Willem,

Thank you for your frankness. What you say makes a lot of sense. As you put it, I can incorporate some yoga techniques, such as breathing, rest, eating, into the prescribed recovery routine. This I will do. Thank you for the time you’ve given my question and for your generous responses. Well, I’m off to my post-op appointment to get staples removed and set up PT sessions. I’m sure it promises to be a not so comfortable morning. LOL Breath . . . breath . . . Thanks again to all respondants to my question.

dus’