I oftentimes get asked what to expect after a rotator cuff repair. Despite the fact that 95 percent of rotator cuff repairs are now done arthroscopically, the recovery can still be quite lengthy. I tell patients that it is typically a full six month recovery after a rotator cuff repair and they can continue to make small improvements even all the way out to a year.
After the repair, we typically keep you in a sling for about six weeks. For smaller tears and tears with less tension upon repair, we can sometimes start some gentle motion after two weeks. But for larger tears, we typically wait a full six weeks. And this can be very challenging and somewhat painful postoperatively, too, because of the healing process.
