You can remove the dressing on the second day after your surgery. In other words, if you had surgery on Tuesday, you can take the bandages off on Thursday morning. If the wound is dry and does not leak from the second postoperative until the third postoperative day, you can shower on the third postoperative day. That means that if your surgery was on a Tuesday and if you remove the dressing on Thursday and there is no leakage until Friday morning, you can take a shower. We do not recommend that you take a bath or go swimming until the sutures are removed. If you have a knee or shoulder replacement, we do not recommend showering until 1 week after surgery and not until there has been no drainage at all from the wound for 72 hours.

Showering without the shoulder immobilizer after shoulder surgery can be dangerous for the surgical repair. We recommend purchasing a second sling to be used in the shower which can be left in the bathroom to dry between showers.

If you have a knee or shoulder replacement, we do not recommend showering until 1 week after surgery and not until there has been no drainage at all from the wound for 72 hours.



Sleeping is often uncomfortable after shoulder surgery. You may use pillows around the shoulder to make a support for it in order to get comfortable. Alternatively, you may elect to sleep in a reclining chair to find a more comfortable position.



You should wear the strap around your neck in the most comfortable position on your shoulders. The waist strap must only be worn at night when you sleep and can be removed during the day. The sling can be removed while lying on your back to bend and straighten the elbow. The sling can be removed for short periods if you are awake and the arm is well supported. Typing is generally allowed in the first two weeks postoperatively as long as the arm is supported, it is not used away from the body, and you do not type excessively. If you had arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, labrum repair, or shoulder stabilization done arthroscopically, we generally do not recommend physical therapy before 4 weeks and do not recommend that you do any exercises until after that time. However, there are exceptions to these rules on an individual basis.



The cryocuff will not be very effective until the second morning after surgery when you remove the dressing. After that, you can place the cryocuff on the skin and it will be helpful to reduce pain and swelling. You can use it continuously, or as much as you like, providing you change the water every 45-60 minutes.



Please let your doctor or dentist know you have a prosthetic joint replacement. While not known with certainty to be needed or effective for all patients, I recommend antibiotics for the following procedures:

Dental and Oral Procedures
Amoxicillin: 2.0 g orally 1 hour before the procedure.

Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Procedures
Amoxicillin: 2.0 g orally 1 hour before the procedure. (If you cannot take Amoxicillin due to a penicillin allergy, please refer to the alternate antibiotics)

Alternate Antibiotics

Dental and Oral Procedures
Cephalexin*: 2.0 grams orally 1 hour before the procedure. If Cephalexin is not used, use Clindamycin:
Clindamycin: 600 mg. orally 1 hour before the procedure

Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Procedures
Ciprofloxacin: 750 mg. orally 1 hour before the procedure

*Cephalosporins should not be used in people with severe penicillin allergy such as urticaria, angioedema or anaphylaxis.