Separated shoulder.....fml

I have a third degree separation from a Nelson crash about 12 years ago. My orthopedic guy recommended against surgery because it can cause more problems later on including arthritis. I was in a sling for a couple of days and I went to one rehab session where I was lifting one pound weights which seemed stupid so I just started using it again. No permanent issues except for the cool bump on my shoulder and the weird internal noises others have commented about.

 

I think it was well over a year before it was 100%. I was back in the gym in two weeks doing really light work, like range of motion stuff and 5-10 lb dumbbells. I think it was helpful, but excruciating. It took forever to have any strength at all. I rode within a couple of months, but with a lot of pain. It’s a tough recovery for sure.

I can remember it being incredibly painful to bench press any more than the bar or do a push-up. Oddly, overhead strength came back more quickly than pressing strength. Just be patient and let pain be your guide. Find the line between inflammation and healing pain, and overuse/damage pain.

 

i OTB on a bicycle and did mine in back in like 2007 or so. walked home 7 miles. tried to sleep it off. rolled over on it the next morning and almost threw up in my bed and decided i should drive myself to the hospital. sling for a little, rehab'd myself by working thru a bunch of stretches and slowly building back strength. just stretch it a lot, if you let it heal tight, it'll be tight forever, range of motion stretching is key... and it'll hurt some.

mine felt pretty fine after like 6 weeks or so if i remember correctly, but like others have said here with weights... mine came in slowly with punching the heavy bag at boxing. the jolt of that still took a while not to phase the shoulder and hurt it, i had to go easy for a few months even after it more or less felt better in day to day use. no motion problems though or strength problems at all. no surgery.

 

It's been so long I really can't remember the specifics, other than my doctor advising against surgery. They put me on a pretty rigorous rehab schedule which was insanely frustrating because I couldn't lift a damn thing for a looooong time. Eventually it all worked out, somehow my arm ended up quite a bit longer than the other one, but no lingering issues nearly 15 years later.

 

Just got home from the orthopedic. Guy walks in, introduces himself and the goes "Did you know Russel?". Which I reply yes, it was someone I had known for many years that I worked with and overdosed on heroin last dec. We then commence to talk about his family and the impact heroin addiction has had on things. Dude almost had me in tears from that because I still speak with the widow and his father. Finally my shoulder. He moves my arm around and pushes a few things and goes yea lets give it 6 weeks and go from there. Immobilize it for a week or two then start doing whatever I can without damaging it. I was hoping for him to cut me open, throw on some rubberbands and I'd be good. Guess the slow painful route is preferred even by the guy who makes the money from the operation.

 

its because by the time they get you in for surgery its already partially healed. so then they're fucking up something that's already healing, to then heal it again.

none of them ever wanna do the surgery unless its bad enough to affect range of motion... or if you're so vain you can't stand to see a little bump there on your shoulder.

 

The other upside to the natural healing approach is that you can’t re-injure it. Once you seperate it, it’s done.

Your surrounding tissue and muscle will get stronger and you won’t need what was broken anyway.

 

I am not a medical doctor, and not sure about staying at a Holiday Inn either. I do know that 8 years later it still aches (like right now) so a separation must really suck

It probably has something to do with I don't have a ball and socket at the shoulder, but more of a ball and plate as was described to me by a Doc in my teens. My shoulder is held on by the muscles and tendons

May everyones injuries, Past and future heal, well and quickly

 

What do you mean you can't re-injure it?

 

you can't triple stamp a double stamp...

Also meaning (I'm guessing) because the joint isn't repaired it technically remains separated, the rest of the muscles etc around it just get stronger to compensate, and you can't re-separate something that's still separated...

 

wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?

Yea in a similar way my dog had a TPLO surgery when his ACL torn in his knee. The operation changes the geometry of his knee to where his ACL was only required to deal with %20 of what it did originally.

 

Yeah pretty much what badmoon said. A third degree means a complete separation of the AC joint. Once everything is torn, there's nothing left to tear.

And shit.

 

I had a 2.1cm grade 3 separation diagnosed. We tried to let it heal without surgery, but about 6 months into healing I still couldn't lift more than maybe 15 pounds easily and it would get extremely sore from very little exercise or impact. I went back and had more x-rays done by another surgeon who said I had incorrect x-ray angles performed and diagnosed it as a grade 5. A month later I had a cadaver anchored by 2 screws and 8mm of the collar bone sawed off where it was trying to join the joint back together. I'm about a year and a half in from that and am happy I did it. To compare the two healing processes I was back on the bike at the track and skiing/snowboarding around 6 months post op. I have yet to take a bad spill on it yet, but am pretty confident the joint is much stronger now than if i didn't do surgery. I also only lost about 2% range of motion. Most important thing either way is to stay on top of your physical therapy.

 

1 week update goes like this. I am not in almost any pain while it's in a sling and supported. The shoulder has that green skin look because of the internal bruising I'd imagine. When I do take the sling off it doesn't feel terrible at first but as soon as I extend my hard far or try to do anything with it I get a quick reminder that my shoulder is still basically unattached. I must say though I'm shocked at how far it's come in a week.

 

Joining the club. Wrecked last Saturday. Complete AC partial CC. 1" separation. Hurts in out of sling. Follow up appointment in two days. Trying to ice it and not use it. Very disappointed they told me 3 months was on the optimistic side. I want to race in February.

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What a blower. How exactly did your doc perform the exam to determine all this? My guy just kind of pushed and pulled a little, asked me to move it in certain ways and called it a day. Sounds like you may be in worse shape then me....

 

Xray laying down, xray sitting up. Part that pisses me off is I was in the trauma unit getting a nail for my broken Femur, morning after surgery PT made me get out of bed and try to walk with a walker. Nobody told me I had a torn shoulder although surgeon knew. I knew it hurt and had told them. Pushing myself up I felt AC ligament tear all the way. PT continued to push me when I told them how much it was hurting. The laying down Xrays before PT confirmed it was torn only 30% and a xrays sitting up after was 100%.

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You didn't get the xrays with the weights in your hands and all of that? I had an MRI too, but I think that was just to run up the bill...

 

When I was in the ER they did in the room Xrays and then I went to the actual xray lab. First standing I let my arms fall and when they handed me the weights to hold I was like nope nope nope nope. I feel like I got a high threshold for pain but something was going to come apart for sure.

I was referring to the Orthopedic doing like an MRI or whatever they do to look at ligaments.

 

I had a severe shoulder strain, impingement, arthritis, bursitis a couple years ago.

After a few months of PT, a few hundred ibuprofen prescription, and some steroids, the shoulder still had issues.

They then decided to do an MRI. WTF. Why wouldn't they do an MRI lst to determine if anything was torn or whatever.

Nothing like your guys' situations...good luck with the heal up.