Modern Vespa

How long after this procedure did you ride your scooter again? I'm 2.5 weeks out from surgery and feel great. No pain or weakness whatsoever. I've been given the green light to drive again, but nothing has been said about riding my Vespa. I'm just itching to get back on my scoot. I probably should be directing this question to my surgeon, but I guess I'm afraid of the answer. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

If you are not feeling pain or weakness I would extrapolate the green light to drive to also ride. Are you doing PT? If so your therapist may be the one to ask.

I go to PT three times a week and do all my required home PT twice a day. I asked my physical therapist today what she thought, but she directed me back to my doctor.

Sounds like a CYA response. Probably smart on her part.

Exactly. I'm afraid doctor will also give me a timeframe which is a CYA response.

I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my progress, but by the same token, I want to go back to living my life again.

I would imagine your greatest danger in riding would be to take a fall and land on that shoulder. You might approach your doctor with a "what if" you stumbled and fell on that shoulder without mentioning the scooter at all.

Yup, falling is my biggest concern. I've only wiped out once in 44 years, but you just never know. It's just tough not riding with all the great weather we have been having this fall. Plus, there's a rally in RVA I really want to attend in November.

Any sharp hits from rough roads, parking lots, speed bumps wouldn't make it better

You wouldn't want to loosen up the interface between bone & prosthetic, before the bone has fully bonded

One thing learned from a total hip replacement two years ago: everyone heals at their own pace. You will be the best judge of when you're ready, and you obviously understand the risk/reward situation. When I asked my doctor when I could start riding again, he said, "Never - you are done riding." He did his job, but I am the one living my life. It was just over 5 weeks before I felt up to a short ride around the neighborhood... but it was an incredible boost to my recovery.

From what I hear, the shoulder is a tougher recovery than a hip... but, see my first sentence. A friend of mine who had his hip done 3 days after mine was walking without a cane the first week... I was still needing a walker and was nearly two months with a cane. Not the recovery pace I had hoped for.

You'll know. Ride safe when it happens; don't over-do.

Best wishes.

Good point. Thank you!

Again, all very good points. I feel that I'm ready to ride, but my wife is another story. She wants me to hang it up until next spring. To appease everyone, maybe I'll hold off until the rally in November and reevaluate where I'm at. I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet for another month or so. Thank you for your comments!

I think it's worth waiting - riding can put a lot more strain and sudden shocks to the shoulder than operating a car steering wheel. Things that are partially healed and "feel fine" might fracture again. I'm amazed you're doing so well so fast! When I shattered my collar bone that sucker didn't want to heal and hurt quite bad for a long time. I'm happy for you!

Thank you for your very sound advice. No sense in rushing it and risking injury again.

I heal very quickly. In the last two years, I've had two spinal fusion surgeries, knee replacement and now shoulder replacement. I recovered very quickly and barely needed pain meds after surgery.

Amazing! Well it does sound like you'll be ready soon - probably can convince the wife on the November plan with that history

Unbeknownst to my wife, I just registered both of us for the RVA scooter rally in November. I'll wait to tell her until the end of this month. Hopefully, she won't kick me out of the house….lol.

I had my six week, post surgical follow up with my orthopedic doctor this morning. She has cleared me to ride again. Looks like I'll be riding my GT200 to the RVA scooter rally next weekend. Woohoo!

I was cleared to ride again after about six weeks, but that was with a surgeon who's big on precision recovery, Dr. Kruse down in Dallas. He told me shoulder replacements aren't just about pain disappearing, the real concern is reflex control if you need to react suddenly. Once my stability tests looked solid on ultrasound, he said I could get back on the bike safely.

After my second shoulder replacement I was driving again after about six weeks, but on the advice of my surgeon and physical therapist I waited twelve weeks before I started riding. I didn't feel that I had regained all the strength in my arm. My first shoulder the year before went about the same way; driving after six weeks but most of the summer off the scooter.

However, although it was no fun waiting to ride I don't regret having either shoulder replaced.

I'm now 4 years out from my left shoulder replacement and I've been completely pain free ever since. No regrets either. I've now had a total of three joint replacements in 5 years including two knee replacements. All three joint replacements have been life changing for me. I'm now able to walk over 5 miles a day and strength train 5 days a week. If your joints are in pain and you've exhausted all the conventional treatments for them with little to no success, I highly recommend looking into joint replacement surgery.

I'm leaning towards going that route myself. The pain during certain movements is sudden and alarming. I almost drop stuff constantly. I purposely have waited until scooter and bike riding season was over. Interestingly, it never hurts when riding either...

Serious question - after the surgery can you throw a baseball? I miss playing catch with my grandsons.

Thanks,

Chris from CLE

I haven't really tried because my grandkids aren't old enough for catch, but I'm sure I could. My range of motion after the surgery is much better than it was before. The doctor says it's about 95%. Like I think I said above, the key to recovery is building up strength.