Our guide to the next 6 months: what was done to your shoulder, the 4 phases of recovery, when you can drive and go back to work, and how we use your 28 GESY-covered sessions.
Your operation is called a rotator cuff repair. In most cases the torn tendon is the supraspinatus, the most important of the four tendons that make up the rotator cuff.
It is usually done arthroscopically: through small incisions, the surgeon reattaches the tendon to the bone with special sutures and anchors. This tendon-to-bone connection needs 8 to 12 weeks to become biologically strong. Until then, it is the most fragile part of the repair.
For large tears or poor-quality tendon, the surgeon may place a thin biological patch over the repair, which becomes part of your tendon over about 3 months. Your physiotherapy programme stays the same: same phases, same timelines. What changes is that consistency in the first 3 months matters even more.
Here, time is a biological factor, not a choice. The tendon needs 8–12 weeks to heal to the bone. No amount of physiotherapy can speed that up, but rushing can undo it.
Sling at all times, even in bed, plus ice. The shoulder is moved only passively, by the physiotherapist, while you lie on your back. Exercises for the hand, elbow and shoulder blade. No active shoulder movement.
The sling comes off. We continue passive movement and add assisted movement (AAROM). By the end of this phase you start raising the arm forwards and out to the side while lying on your back, without weight. Goal: full passive range of motion.
Raising the arm forwards and to the side while standing, without weight. We gradually add very light weights (100–150 g) lying on your back, and light resistance bands. Combined movements from week 16.
Progressive strengthening with weights and resistance. Heavy work and sport after 4–6 months. Full recovery takes 6–12 months, depending on the size of the tear.
At 6 months you have usually recovered about 80%. Full strength returns at 9–12 months, and the shoulder can keep improving beyond the first year.
Timelines are indicative. If your surgeon has given you different instructions, theirs apply, and we follow them too.
The first 1–2 weeks are the hardest: pain, poor sleep, needing help with basic tasks. This is normal and it gets easier week by week.
Worn day and night, including when you sleep. It comes off only for showering and your exercises. It keeps the shoulder in a safe position and prevents accidental movements that load the repair.
4–6 weeks15–20 minutes every 3 hours for the first 72 hours, then 3–4 times a day. Always wrapped in a towel, never directly on the skin. Inflammation lasts longer after this surgery than after most others.
6–8 weeksFor the first 2–3 weeks, sleep semi-upright in a recliner or propped up on pillows. Do not sleep on the operated shoulder.
6+ weeksModerate to severe pain is expected. Take your painkillers as prescribed, before the pain builds up. Swelling and bruising that spreads to the arm, armpit or chest is usually normal.
First 5–7 daysShower from day 2 with waterproof dressings over the incisions. Normal showering once the stitches are out, usually at 10–14 days. No bath, pool or sea until then.
From day 2If your surgeon approves: pendulums, ball squeezes, elbow bends and shoulder-blade squeezes, which do not load the tendon. We show and check them in your sessions. Do not copy exercises from online videos.
From day 1Rotator cuff repair is one of the most demanding rehabilitations in physiotherapy: structured, slow, and it takes patience. These are realistic timelines.
Not while wearing the sling or taking strong painkillers. Only once you have full control of the arm.
6–8 weeksFrom 2–3 weeks, even in the sling, if your job does not involve raising your arms above shoulder height. Most people go back around week 6.
2–6 weeksJobs with lifting or overhead work: not before 4 months. Heavy labour or construction: around 6 months.
4–6 monthsNo load through the operated arm until month 4: no shopping bags, no pushing doors open, no pushing up from a chair.
From month 4Walking from week 1, in the sling. Exercise bike from weeks 2–3. Light jogging from month 3.
Week 1 – month 3Swimming, tennis, weights, golf: not before 6 months, and always with your physiotherapist’s approval.
6–9 monthsMany of these go against your instincts, but they decide whether the repair holds.
For rotator cuff repair, GESY covers 28 physiotherapy sessions, with a referral from your doctor and a €10 co-payment per session. Our plan: 2 sessions a week for 14 weeks, covering the whole critical period up to phase 4.
Passive movement, soft-tissue work around the shoulder (not on the shoulder itself), pain control, shoulder-blade stability.
Assisted and active movement, gradually increasing range of motion, isometric exercises.
Active movement standing up, light resistance bands, preparation for strengthening.
From month 4, strengthening continues mainly at home, with a personalised programme we prepare for you. If you need more sessions, we continue privately or apply for an extension through GESY.
Many patients want to “do more” to recover faster. With a rotator cuff that is risky: the tendon needs time and cannot be rushed. Two sessions a week are enough for mobility and monitoring, and they let the tissue heal.
Usually in the first week. For the first 6 weeks the shoulder is only moved passively, by the physiotherapist, while at home you do simple hand, elbow and shoulder-blade exercises, if your surgeon has approved them.
Usually 4–6 weeks, at all times, even in bed. It comes off only for showering and your exercises. After week 4 it is weaned off gradually, as your surgeon advises.
Not while you wear the sling or take strong painkillers. Most patients drive again after 6–8 weeks, once they have full control of the arm.
Office work usually between week 2 and week 6, if you do not need to raise your arms above shoulder height. Manual work not before 4 months, and heavy labour or construction at around 6 months.
GESY covers 28 sessions, with a referral from your doctor and a €10 co-payment per session. At AlexPhysio we schedule them as 2 a week for 14 weeks: 12 in weeks 1–6, 12 in weeks 6–12 and 4 in weeks 12–14.
No. The tendon needs 8–12 weeks to heal to the bone, and no amount of physiotherapy speeds up biology. Loading it too much too early raises the risk of a re-tear. Two sessions a week is the right balance.
At 6 months most patients have regained about 80% of function. Full strength returns at 9–12 months, depending on the size of the tear, and the shoulder can keep improving after the first year.
Your operation report, your surgeon’s written instructions and any X-rays, MRI or ultrasound scans. This lets us tailor the programme to your surgery.
Call us before your surgery or right after it, so we can book your first session in time and go through your surgeon’s instructions together.
Shoulder rehabilitation after surgery is one of our team’s core specialisations.
We tell you plainly when we move forward and when we wait, from the first passive movement to the last strengthening exercise.
Your 28 sessions after rotator cuff repair are covered, with a €10 co-payment per session.
Strovolou 51, close to Lakatamia, Strovolos, Dali and Latsia.