Shoulder Surgery

Whenever it doesn't hurt anymore. :) Helpful, I know, but that's what my surgeon told me. Everyone heals differently, and at different rates.

I'd suggest waiting until you're off the heavy duty pain meds, because they tend to mask other pains as well, even if they don't make it hard to concentrate.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com WIP: Poppies (Art-Stitch), two knitted tops, Oriental Butterfly Most recently Finished: Floral Sampler, Insect Sampler

Haven't had the surgery, but have had issues with bad shoulders. If you cut your floss fairly short so you don't have to make big arm motions to pull it through the fabric, you shouldn't have any problem. I do think I'd stick with small stuff in-hand at first, so you're not having to contort the shoulder to reach across a frame.

Karen C in California wrote:

I absolutely MUST tell a "Stitchin' Buddy" story about Janet. I know for a fact that Janet won't have this problem because she only uses a frame when she's working larger needlepoint stuff. When she is doing xs or other counted work (even hardanger), she uses this itsy bitsy little spring hoop that's maybe about 4" in diameter! And she uses it on **EVERYTHING** regardless of the size. After the fire, she stitched this really lovely Eva Rosenstand piece of a water pump that used a piece of fabric that was 18" x 24" and she was working with that teensy little frame. We won't talk about the several MLI pieces she stitched using the old 4" hoop!!!! Now, if you will remember, she lost absolutely ***everything*** in the fire several years ago -- all of her exquisite needlework AND her three Babies 8"-{ . So -- when she thought she was ready to start stitching again, I posted here and over at RCTQ asking folks if anyone had seen one of these frames in that size. We got more stitching stuff donated to Janet than you can shake a stick at but no one seemed to have ever seen a spring hoop that small -- 8" diameter seems to be the smallest available currently. Janet had gotten her hoop about a million cat years ago and none of us could find a replacement. I posted again telling people that Janet got the old hoop a long time ago and LO! & Behold, one of the quilt ladies remembered she had several spring hoops in her "oldy moldy" buried stash box. The woman sent me her old hoops -- I think she had 3 -- and I'll be durned but one of them was almost exactly the same as the one Janet lost in the fire. Knowing Janet as well as I do -- I'd be willing to bet that is the ONLY hoop she has used since she got it. So I'm pretty sure Janet won't have to deal with any pain related to the need to reach around a frame :-))))). CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

I have had surgery on my shoulder, elbow, and both hands - every time, I was stitching again the next day, BUT - using short threads, and no wide-ranging movements... no big projects for at least a month, depending on your recovery rate, and the seriousness of the surgery... the shoulder and the elbow took much longer to heal than the two hands did, so it very much depends on you. Take it slow, but enjoy, since you have a great excuse not to do any major cleaning, etc!!!! LOL

Dee

I had shoulder surgery a year ago - and finally am no longer hurting at all. Just as everyone else mentions, you can stitch if you are not on super pain meds which alter your sense of reality and you can make huge mistakes and not realize it, and if you use short threads so you have minimize your arm movement. Pain will be your guide, there. You won't reinjur your shoulder unless you extend your arm away from your body AND lift something heavy at the same time. I, too, use a 4" spring hoop on most pieces. I love the tightness it give me on the fabric, although I use a larger hoop if I am doing a long, loopy border that goes really fast.

Good luck and happy healing. Believe me, in 6 weeks you will experience a wonderful turning point. :-)

Deb

Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'm doing really well. I can move the arm up and down but not side to side. Tomorrow is my first physical therapy session and that should give me an indication of how I'm doing. I haven't tried to stitch yet - maybe later in the week. I'm starting to get bored!!

Janet

You will do just fine and it's great you are already going to physical therapy. Be sure to do your arm rotations like they tell you. That's where you bend over a bit and let your arm swing in circles first one way and then other. It will be well worth every bit of effort!

Deb

When the therapist dismisses you, don't assume that that is as good as it gets and quit. A couple of years after my surgery, I happened to join a Nautilus club for unrelated reasons. The coach spent six months picking up the weights so that I could put them down, and six months after that I had my full range of motion back.

The warm-ups and stretches were just as important as the weights for this purpose; I could keep on doing them in my own living room but without that push, I'm lazy. But with the arm free, I move it enough just doing things to keep it free.

Fond memory: after every session of putting the weight down, he reduced the weight to minimum and had me try to lift it. One day I shouted "One!" and the whole room applauded.

Joy Beeson