Following some types of surgery, a shoulder sling is worn for comfort and support but the arm is periodically released to perform physical therapy exercises.
When this is the case it is an advantage to have a shoulder sling the can free the arm while the rest of the sling remains on. This allows you to quickly and easily get back into it for support at the completion of the exercises.
There are many different components in a shoulder sling and subtle changes in each will alter the way it feels when supporting the arm.
One variable that does not change is the weight of the arm. A shoulder sling is designed to take the weight of the arm and the strap coming up over the opposite shoulder and around the neck takes the majority of this weight.
A simple feature to look at the determine how comfortable the sling will be is the width of the shoulder strap. Thin straps cut into the neck and are quickly painful. Anything less than 1 inch is likely to be a problem for medium to long term use.
Some shoulder slings have an additional pad that is positioned at the shoulder to make it more comfortable.
