SLAP Tear Shoulder (Labrum)

Long story short, shoulder was injured and requires surgery. Anyone else been through this that wouldn't mind sharing their experiences and recommendations for recovery?

MRI with contrast detected that I had an anterior labral tear and SLAP.  I underwent surgery (shoulder arthroscopy) on August 25th this year and currently am 3 weeks post-op. However, during the surgery, my surgeon found out that my "SLAP" tear wasn't serious enough to be fixed - in his own words, he said it wasn't even a tear and that part of labrum does not contribute to the stability of the shoulder. So he only fixed the anterior labral tear which caused my anterior shoulder dislocation last year. 

I'm required to wear a sling for 6 weeks (3 more weeks to go)

And I started PT after the first week. Currently working on Passive Range of Motion (PROM). 

The risk of dislocating my shoulder again after surgery is 10%. My shoulder is expected to be fully healed and ready (to the level of jumping again) in 5-6 months. 

You might need to sleep in a recliner at first. And then you can adjust how you sleep based on your own comfort & pain level. It's an individual thing and there are no strict rules. For me sleeping in a recliner totally sucked because I had no sleep quality at all. Right now I'm sleeping flat on my bed with no pain. Wear your sling when you sleep. 

Keep walking everyday. It helps speed up the blood flow and reduce constipation. Pain meds cause constipation. 

Follow your surgeon's instructions.

PT is an important part of recovery. Do exactly what your PT says. Find a good PT who knows what he's doing. Think about it like this - fixing your labrum is like planting a seed, and doing PT is like helping the seed grow.

Hi, I had a similar problem two years ago. (rotator cuff injury) Had an x-ray and MRI and the doctor told me i would need surgery. When canceling a planned P3 event due to the planned surgery Dan BC pointed me to: https://www.amazon.com/Shoulder-Solution-Prevention-Revised-Expanded/dp/1589096428

I did the exercises and to my amazement the problem is 90% over and i have pain free full movement of my shoulder now. Since then i posted two skydiver friends with the same problem to this method and it has greatly improved their issues too. I did notice i need to keep doing the exercises, if i stop the complaints come back a little after about three months.

I suggest looking into it, talk to your doctor to see if he/she thinks it would't do harm in your situation and try it before getting surgery. Best of luck

Peter