Hiking after shoulder surgery

Hey Niko,

Your question is actually really hard to answer. I’m an orthopedic physical therapist and the answer will depend on what was repaired, how fragile your tissue was when they repaired it, your age, other medical issues, and how well you do your post-op PT.

Having said that, I’m having a hard time envisioning a scenario where you couldn’t get back to hiking and climbing.

Niko, 5 years ago April, when I was 63, I had total shoulder replacement surgery (titanium – how BPL is that). Within a couple of months after surgery, I resumed carrying my backpack with 25 lbs on my daily one-hour walks with my dog, with no ill effects. I was able to go on 5 backpacking trips later that summer – the longest one was 3 nights. I recall having some issues sleeping on my surgically repaired side the first few trips after surgery (July and August), but that was it. Best of luck. Dan

I’m 56 and had soulder surgery 3 years ago to repair three tears in my labrum and a torn rotator cuff.  I now backpack without difficulty, shoot my bow, golf, fly fish, raise ladders (fire service) and still manage to climb and work on trees (arborist-type stuff).  My shoulder isn’t what is was prior to 14 years of commercial fishing and 20+ years in the fire service, but if i pace myself and be reasonbly careful, it’s not that bad.  I certainly don’t have the flexibility I used to have, but my shoulder is way more stable than prior to surgery.  Much of it will depend on your particular injuries and how good your surgeon is.  Also, don’t do anything stupid during your recovery to reinjure it and be diligent about your physical therapy.

Good luck.

Jennifer and Dan, thank you for sharing your experience. BPL indeed! Have you measured the weight of the new shoulder :). Your feedback is very encouraging; three nights are so much better than a day hike! I hope you can continue to enjoy nature.

Mountains here in Indonesia can be pretty steep, so there is often an element of scrambling and holding on to roots on the way up or slipping on the mud while going down. The surgeon thinks I could make level trails, but nothing that might require suddenly putting the load on the shoulder, such as using ropes, slipping on the scree, or self-arrest on the ice. He is concerned that in such situations, the shoulder muscles might not engage quickly enough, thus putting the entire load on the ligaments and risking re-tear.

I suppose it all boils down to the risk assessment. Therefore, it is beneficial and encouraging to hear real-life feedback from hikers that are facing or have observed similar situations to establish a range based on field experience.

Thanks for sharing your experience Brad, I am impressed with your range of activities, especially climbing and working on trees. My hiking buddy ended up re-tearing his ligaments while playing soccer too soon and ended up with three follow-up surgeries on the same shoulder. He also warned me to be religious about physical therapy and follow the therapist’s advice.

Make sure your post-op PT works on quick reaction/plyometric stuff when appropriate. We can absolutely train those muscles to be quick and react when needed…I rehab shoulders in a very active climbing/mountain biking/skiing town and I’ve never had a patient not be able to go back to their sport.

another sobering (but positive!) point: an MRI study of “successful” rotator cuff repairs found a ridiculously high percentage were torn again – but the patients had no pain, full strength and full range of motion. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Jennifer,

Thank you for sharing your professional experience 🙏 . Could you please point me to some online resource so that I can learn enough to begin the discussion with the physiotherapist about quick reaction plyometric training? I am supposed to have my first session tomorrow (assessment).

My surgery involved large Bankart tear repair with a Remplisage to address Hill Sachs lesion, but the rotator cuff is still good, thankfully 👍.

Cheers,

Niko Z.

Again, not being privy to your personal case, I would absolutely expect a surgery like that (in general) to recover just fine. In those cases there are no tendon repairs, so no real change in injury risk pre- vs post operatively. Sounds like you had a previous dislocation? I would – once appropriate – focus on general stability initially, then plyometrics towards the end.

honestly just make sure your physio knows what your ultimate goals are – if he/she is any good at all they’ll know what to do.
feel free to ask more questions if you’d like – good luck!

Thanks Jennifer, I will follow your advice and discuss my overall goals with the therapist first. Yes, you are correct, I have had dozens of subluxations on that shoulder over the years. Your kind encouragement is much appreciated 🙏.

To repeat what has been said above, I think you need to find a good physio therapist and work with them.  It sounds like your surgeon is worried about injury BEFORE your rehab is complete, yes? I had rotator cuff repair on my left shoulder.  After surgery, the orthopedist said it would heal about 10% per month.  And that was about right in my case. After 90 days, the PT and the surgeon were OK with camping and some hiking but were somewhat worried about falls, and re-injuring the repair.

Niko,

A couple of years ago I had

Right shoulder arthroscopy with subacromial decompression/bursectomy/acromioplasty. 2. Debridement of anterior, superior, and posterior labrum. Debridement of the biceps tendon, biceps tenotomy, debridement of biceps tendon stump, debridement of mild capsulitis/synovitis with small partial articular side tear of the supraspinatus. 3. Mini open subpectoral biceps tenodesis with one 6.25 Arthrex Bio-Tenodesis screw. Done on 10/29/19.

After extensive PT i have no problem now of carrying heavy loads, or anything else I want to do.  My advice after many surgeries including a complete ACL repair,  take it slow don’t rush it. It’ll be frustrating but it will come. If you rush and don’t follow your doctors and PT advice you could end up damaging what was done…….