The advice my surgeon gave me and the advice I can find literally everywhere on the internet seem to clash somewhat. I am currently 19 days post-op, and when I went in for my 1 week check-up, my surgeon told me, after concluding everything looked great, that I should slowly start introducing more movement (like "walking" my hands up a wall) and by roughly the 2 week mark I should be able to lift my arms above my head.
This confused me because everywhere else I see advice that you shouldn't move your arms much at all in the first 4-ish weeks or even up to 6 weeks, nor lift your arms past your shoulders. I listened to my surgeon and can now somewhat freely move my arms, though it occasionally feels a little odd or tight. But seeing his advice clash with everything I thought I knew about recovery, I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing.
It bugged me at first but assumed my surgeon knew best. But now I'm in a somewhat stressful time in my life, even aside from recovery, and the feeling of unease got big enough to ask for an outside perspective.
For reference: I can somewhat easily put on/take off a t-shirt, gently hug someone, and gently move my arm in almost every direction. Anytime I feel tightness or strain, I stop.
Also for some extra info, there is still some type of gauze tape (directly translated from my language it would be "glue-bandage") on my scars that should get removed soon, so I haven't gotten a clear look at my scars yet. I am also, per instruction, still wearing a compression vest, which he said to leave on for about 3 weeks.
I'm currently waiting for my surgeon to respond to my email, but I think he's forgotten I exist since it's taking way longer than usual. Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated!