Returning to Sports After Rotator Cuff Surgery

Whether you hurt your rotator cuff playing pickleball, hockey, baseball, or some other sports or general overuse caused the problem, you probably primarily care about one thing: easing the pain. 

That means trying conservative treatments, like rest and injections, first. If your shoulder doesn’t respond to treatment — or if you’re active and need your shoulder for a job or sports — your doctor will likely recommend rotator cuff surgery. 

That means spending some time away from your sport of choice after your procedure. But certain steps can shorten your recovery period. 

Because we offer both rotator cuff repair surgery and physical therapy, our team can help you manage your recovery process from the moment you exit the operating room. Visit any of our Anchor Spine and Joint offices — in Tampa, Riverview, Pinellas Park, Odessa, or Lutz, Florida — for a personalized care plan.

For an overview of what the recovery and return to sports look like, let’s sketch in broad strokes. 

Your return-to-play timeline

Here’s the good news. Most people who get rotator cuff surgery are able to return to their sport of choice after recovery. 

Even professional athletes — with the highly demanding nature of their performance expectations — can usually get back to the game. What’s more, they often even perform at the same level as before their rotator cuff injury. 

Now, the less-welcome news: recovering from rotator cuff surgery isn’t a super-quick process. 

Plenty of studies have looked at the return-to-play (RTP) timeline, which means there’s data you can use to estimate your own timeline. One meta-analysis of more than 500 patients found an average RTP time of 7.78 months. 

Factors that impact recovery after rotator cuff surgery

The length of time you need to spend away from your sport depends on a couple of key things: the type of surgery you have and how quickly your body is able to heal the area. 

You can take both into your own hands. 

Minimally invasive surgery

First, make sure you choose a surgeon that offers minimally invasive rotator cuff repair surgery (like our team here at Anchor Spine and Joint). 

That means the surgeon only makes a tiny incision in your shoulder, then uses an arthroscope — a small, thin device with a camera on the end — to guide your procedure. The small incision shortens recovery. As an added benefit, it lowers your risk of complications, too. 

The aforementioned meta-analysis also looked specifically at studies in which the rotator cuff surgery was performed arthroscopically. With a minimally invasive approach, it found that the average recovery time shortened to 6.8 months — almost a full month shorter than with traditional surgical methods. 

Support for the body’s healing processes

Working with a physical therapist helps to support your shoulder as it heals. In the beginning, you’ll do passive exercises to support your range of motion. That means your physical therapist moves your shoulder for you.

Once it’s safe to do so — usually after about a month — we start incorporating active exercise into your physical therapy routine. This helps you gradually strengthen your shoulder. Ramping up activity under the guidance of your physical therapist means that by the time you’re cleared to return to your sport, you’re ready to go. You won’t need to spend weeks reconditioning the shoulder. 

This is all a broad overview. If you have more questions about the healing process after rotator cuff surgery or you want to get care for your hurt shoulder, we’re here. Call the Anchor Spine and Joint office nearest you or book your appointment online by simply clicking the blue “Request an Appointment” button on our site.