Sleeping

Hi there all,
I'm a restless sleeper and will raise my arms above my head throughout the night while tossing and turning. I'm still wearing the sling at night just in case I do this--afraid I may do some damage. Does anyone know when to ditch the sling and how long until it's actually OK to lift your arm over your head? I've heard normal range of motion is fine after 4 weeks but it's best to wait 6-8 weeks for other movements. BTW I'm 5 1/2 weeks since PM surgery (and still counting).

Also, any info. known about using a heating pad and if so how close can it be to the PM?

Just some random questions.....Thanks!

5 Comments

What did you Doctor say?

by Lurch - 2014-07-23 06:07:25

My Doctor told me to take it easy for the first two weeks and not to raise my arm above my head.

I, too, am a restless sleeper and toss a lot during the night. I wore the sling for the first two weeks at night, then got rid of it. If you put you arm up too early, in my experience, you will feel it.

When you keep the arm immobile for too long a time your shoulder will "lock up" and give you problems.

If you are concerned about using an electric heating pad get some of the patches that provide heat via chemical reaction.

ditch the sling

by Tracey_E - 2014-07-23 09:07:12

Anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Raising your arm while sleeping is not going to do any damage at this point. Swinging a golf club, maybe. Reaching in your sleep, highly unlikely. I slept hugging a small pillow, helped me keep my arm down while also keeping me from rolling on my sore side (I'm a stomach sleeper)

Heating pad directly over it is ok, just keep it on low and don't leave it on longer than 10-15 min.

I would not do a patch on a new incision!

six weeks

by megsam - 2014-07-25 01:07:00

I have been told that it takes six weeks for the leads that go down into your heart to fully "implant" into the heart. It's for this reason that you should not move your arm over your head or extend it way back out behind you or lift anything heavy with your left arm for the full six weeks. After going through everything you've gone through, you really don't want to pull those leads loose. If you tend to put your arm over your head while sleeping, AFAIK you need to figure out some way not to. I had a hard time sleeping at first, not being used to sleeping on my back, and finally I put two firm thick memory foam pillows, one on each side of me, so I'm hemmed in, and keep my left arm down next to the pillow. (I was told to use the splint only at night, not during the day, because although you should restrict the left arm as I described, you also shouldn't restrict it so totally that you end up with "frozen shoulder.") But after I concocted the pillow system, I didn't need the splint. (I'm only two weeks post-implantation, so I'm still being pretty careful.)

Sling

by bmccasland - 2014-07-25 11:07:02

Follow your Dr's guidance. I had to go through it twice in a month. The 2nd time I kept the sling on at night for the maximum time the dr recommended. Not that the sling or not having it on had anything to do with it but I had a lead come dislodged that was discovered at my 4week PM interrogation, the 2nd go around was not fun. Your are almost there!! Hang in there..

Neckties

by Nana215A - 2014-07-27 11:07:41

When I received my very first PM, my hubby was very good about watching that I didn't raise my left arm over my head during the night. He grabbed one of his neckties and tied my arm down around the waist. This worked perfectly! I actually was told to not raise the arm above my head for 8-10 weeks and, knowing how easy it is to pull out those leads, I will pay attention to those instructions for every change-out I have over the years. I got my last one in December of 2012.

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