Heavy/HGTV HGTV's Ben and Erin Napier
Ben Napier won’t be doing any woodworking or home renovations for quite a while. The HGTV star just had rotator cuff surgery after dealing with shoulder pain for years. When his wife and co-star Erin Napier shared the news on Instagram, fans flooded the post with well-wishes and hundreds of stories about how “painful” and “rough” the recovery can be.
“Ouch,” one woman wrote. “Lots of people I’ve known said shoulder recovery was the most painful of all.”
“Very tough and painful surgery,” another wrote. “Speaking from experience😢”
Fortunately, Ben is in good hands with his brother-in-law serving as his physical therapist and the rest of his family eager to help however they can, including plenty of stuffed animals from his daughters to comfort him.
Ben Napier Receives Love From Fans, Friends and Family After Rotator Cuff Surgery
On the evening of March 30, 2023, Erin posted a photo of Ben propped up on the couch at their country home outside Laurel, Mississippi, surrounded by pillows and stuffed animals given to him by their daughters, five-year-old Helen and almost two-year-old Mae. Erin also held a homemade card from Helen in the picture, and a handful of withering flowers picked for her dad.
To caption the post, Erin wrote, “rotator cuff repaired ✅ bone spur shaved off ✅ cartilage trimmed ✅ best nurse in the biz ✅”
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, rotator cuff surgery “most often involves re-attaching the tendon to the head of the humerus,” or upper arm bone. To keep the arm from moving as it heals, patients typically wear a sling for four to six weeks and gradually begin physical therapy exercises to strengthen the muscles.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Clinic says bone spurs are “smooth, bony growths, usually near joints” that can be caused by osteoarthritis or joint damage. If other methods don’t reduce pain, surgery may be needed to remove them.
Fans and friends flooded Erin’s post to wish Ben well and offer advice on recovering from the surgery.
When one person commented that Ben, likely on strong pain medication post-surgery, looked “a wee bit dopey,” Erin replied, “maaaaaaybe a lot haha”
“Fixer to Fabulous” star Dave Marrs, who will co-star with the Napiers and his wife, Jenny Marrs, in HGTV’s second season of “Home Town Takeover” premiering in April, commented on the post, “Feel better man.”
Amy Roloff, star of TLC’s “Little People, Big World,” wrote, “Oh dear. I hope he gets better soon and back to doing all that he loves to do”
Ben Napier Has Been Preparing for Rotator Cuff Surgery
In January, Erin posted a video of Ben at a physical therapy appointment for “a shoulder problem that’s been bothering him for years” and revealed that his practitioner is her brother, Clark Rasberry, who works at a practice in Laurel.
Erin’s dad was also a physical therapist for 44 years, and she wrote that her brother “was brave enough to step out in faith and left the hospital where our dad retired from to became a partner in a physical therapy clinic last year.”
In addition to trying to ease his pain with physical therapy, Ben has been working on getting fit before surgery. On March 2, Erin posted a photo on Instagram of Ben in the gym he set up at home despite his shoulder pain.
She wrote, “Somehow despite having a torn rotator cuff and us barging in and slowing him down daily, @scotsman.co has been building a gym in the barn and lost many lbs. and holy smokes what a babe with good blood pressure.”
Erin tweeted an update on March 26, sharing that Ben has now lost 65 pounds. She posted a photo of him with comedian Jay Leno, who they met while on a trip to Los Angeles last week, looking much trimmer than on new episodes of “Home Town,” which were filmed months ago.
Last spring, it was Erin’s turn to undergo surgery. In May 2022, she shared a post from her own hospital bed after having a “throat procedure” and required an overnight stay.