It's been a week since I separated my shoulder playing hockey. This is my first experience with a separated shoulder, so I'm throwing down notes about the first week after.
The first few days were the worst. I took the percocets every 4-6 hours just to stay ahead of the pain. There was one position that had little pain but any other movement of my left arm and I was hit with a sharp pain. Sleeping was tough, because I had to stay on my back when every instinct encouraged me to sleep on my side.
By Tuesday I could sense the pain was dulling, at least when I was just lounging around. I also had another inch or two of movement with my left arm. I still couldn't put on my socks or touch my head, but my range of motion was definitely improving.
By Thursday I felt like I could drive into the office. It's sore, like a deep bruise, and I don't even think about testing my limited range of use, but it's getting better. Tonight is hockey, which I'm obviously missing, but at this pace it's not unreasonable to expect that I could play in a month.
Until then, it's day-by-day.
