return to work · last reviewed 2026-06-08
Return to work after shoulder labral repair
Clinical procedure: Shoulder labral / Bankart repair.
Typical, evidence-anchored estimate only. It is not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.
Every number on this page comes from a published study of real patients and links to its source. Return-to-work timing varies widely with the kind of job, the cohort studied, and the person — treat the figures as orientation, not clearance.
When you actually return is a decision made with your surgeon and, where relevant, occupational health. The data below describes cohorts, not your case.
what the studies document
Back to work
Desk work returns early
Office workers returned at an average of 2.5 weeks (range 1-17) in a small prospective cohort — overall median across job types was 7 weeks. Small study (n=17), so ranges are wide.
Back to work
Physical jobs: median 12 weeks
The same cohort put physical work at a median of 12 weeks (range 4-20). The desk-vs-physical gap is real and documented — your job type moves this milestone more than your pain does.
milestones from the timeline
- wk 2.5 ·Return to light / sedentary (desk) work (Office workers around 2.5 weeks (range 1-17); often once off narcotic pain medication)
- wk 12 ·Return to physical / heavy-labor work (Median 12 weeks for physical jobs (range 4-20); overall RTW median 7 weeks)
sources
What this page is built from
- NSAIDs vs opioids after arthroscopic Bankart repair: RCT (n=80, VAS trajectory) RCT · reliability 7/10
- Physical therapy protocols for arthroscopic Bankart repair (30 protocols) protocol review · reliability 7.5/10
- Return to work after arthroscopic Bankart repair (prospective cohort) prospective cohort · reliability 7/10
Track your own week-by-week so a flare doesn't erase the months behind it.
Start a recovery logThis page reflects published cohort data on shoulder labral repair recovery — not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.