How is the Cadlow best used?
For the first week it should be used a few hours a day, such as during sports practice. The cords should be tense and short enough to just allow the person to raise the arm completely overhead or abduction to 180 degrees. In week two, the ability to raise the arm completely overhead should be assessed. If done easily, the weaker green cord should be changed to a stronger blue or very strong black cord. An alternative is to replace each cord with one that is one inch shorter. Again, the goal is to make full abduction very difficult, but possible. Because the muscles rapidly strengthen this process should be repeated each of the first four to five weeks. The user rarely is even aware of the Cadlow after the first two weeks in spite of increasing the tensions weekly. It rarely interferes with overhead play or use.
