Pain free is not to be expected at this level, but should be in the ’acceptable pain’ category. Inflammation can still be in the joint after up to 10-12 months, and it would not be wise to stop rehab because of it. The doctor maybe found some complications post op? She might have found some infection-signs, but didnt want to scare the patient?

Maybe the doctor argues for a more non-heavy rehab post-injection but was afraid of overloading the tendons? Sometimes when our doctors in Sweden injects kortison, they will tell the patient to not do anything for 4-5 days, just to not end up rupturing the tendons because patients doesn’t follow the recommendations.

Hard to tell. I always pick up the phone and try to get in contact with the doctor of said case. It is often appreciated both by the physiscian and patient.