Wear A Sling After Surgery (so people know?)
 

I thought I heard that some people bought a cheap arm sling to wear after surgery so people know not to "bump them."

In my every day life, people will tell a joke, grab my arm, squeeze it at the elbow, and then yank it down. WHY DO THEY DO THAT! UGH! I tell them afterwards to please not do that again as I have "arm issues." They feel bad but the damage is done.

Anyways, does a sling, even kinda draped on you, make people be cautious around you? Can you wear your arm in an actual sling like if you are in a tight spot or is that going to affect your self after surgery:pizza:?

I wore a sling for the airport and the plane ride home from surgery. It seemed to help people realize the situation(and my wife acting like the secret service). I'd recommend one for heavy traffic areas.

Yes yes, slings are veryyyyy helpful. I still wear mine everytime I go to an airport and should have been wearing it when taking public trans because I got bumped a few times and it hurt like hell. But now my fam drives me around and they are all aware they need to drive very cautiously when I am in the vehicle. For post surgery, it is a must, because you definitely cannot take ANY risk of people bumping you whatsoever, it also makes people around you naturally more helpful because they can physically see you a disability. But at the same time, your arm may not like that position soon after surgery. I remember after my surgery, I had to wear it for a while, but after a few weeks my arm hated that position and therefore I hated wearing it. Also, I should mention I didn't have a "sling" because it pushes down on your shoulder and is not good for people with TOS. I have an "arm mobilizer" sort of heavy duty, was given to me by my last surgeon and I still use it sometimes. It wraps around your waist and keeps your arm in a similar position a sling would, without the weight of a strap on your shoulder/back/chest.

IF you can, get a white or bright colored one, so it stands out and no one can miss it. The bigger and more obvious, the better.

I had a "figure 8" strap on after my accident because of the broken collarbone. Was at a doctor's office, cane, strap, barely walking what with all the other injuries & breaks (sternum, ribs, pelvis), and yet STILL this well meaning idiot technician told me not to "be so down" ("be down"??? I'm concentrating on not falling over and not crying out in pain at this moment, not "being down"!!!) and then CLAPPED ME FIRMLY ON BOTH SHOULDERS AS HE LEFT THE ROOM!!!

Sling, big yellow CAUTION sign, flashing warning lights--as much as you can. Stain some gauze with red food coloring or ketchup and pin that off your shoulder--that should keep people away. Whatever it takes.

Yes, that has been suggested often over the years.
Just don't wear it constantly or you may get frozen shoulder issues from lack of movement.

NICE!:hissyfit::idea:

For YEARS, pre and post op walking around people, thru crowds my goal was to create a bright red scarf with gothic spikes and a sign DO NOT COME CLOSE OR TOUCH MY SHOULDER

O yeah about the sling that's a big no no
not only are you putting pressure on your shoulder, nerves and circulatory system more so your hand and fingers will turn blue. You have to keep mobile for blood flow. The prob with TOS is there is a compression and your adding to it. Same as when women sling heavy purses, bra straps and on the already compressed BP and bra straps.

Story...first weeks of injury back in 2000 the doc put me in a sling and wanted to cast my arm. What did I know back then? Went into their attached PT center and the therapist and him got into a flat on shouting match how dare he immobilized my arm. couldn't he see my fingers were starting to turn blue?