The past two decades saw a progressive increase in the amount of surgical treatment aimed at recovering from shoulder disease. This may be related to wider knowledge of shoulder pathologies thanks to improved diagnostic methods, but also to widespread new surgical techniques and devices as well as to people’s growing demand for physical well-being.
Subjecting any joint to any type of surgical treatment always comes with subsequent rehabilitation aimed at recovering the joint function. The shoulder is one of the joints that require intense functional rehabilitation the most in order to fully recover the mobility and muscular strength necessary to perform everyday actions, as well as play or sports activities. Lack of or inadequate rehabilitation may considerably reduce the benefit deriving from surgical treatment. Patients must therefore be aware of the necessity to fully, constantly and often extendedly commit themselves to rehabilitation, with the ultimate purpose of achieving the best outcomes surgery can ever lead to. Passively relying on rehabilitation alone is often not enough. It is necessary that patients have basic knowledge of the joint anatomy, of the methods enabling full functional recovery and that they can autonomously do rehabilitation exercise.
This book is aimed at providing patients with basic information on the shoulder anatomy and how it works, with information concerning the pathology they are affected by and its treatment; it is also aimed at teaching how to carry out everyday activities in the initial post-surgery period, at providing information on the existing rehabilitation techniques and, above all, on how to perform rehabilitation exercise. The latter is undoubtedly our main purpose. Every single pathology dealt with in this book is explained together with “a set of steps” providing directions on rehabilitation timings and duration as well as on the mobility objectives to be achieved at the end of the week/weeks of rehabilitation.
This book is not meant to replace the rehabilitation carried out by the physiotherapist, which plays a vital role. However, it can be a sound and reliable tool to continue the rehabilitation process at home or even to autonomously carry it out in the event it cannot be carried out with the aid of a physiotherapist.
Pictures of the exercises, divided according to the type of rehabilitation exercise, can be found in the last section of the book, patients should constantly address to during the rehabilitation process.