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Hey everyone.
About 4 or 5 months ago I dislocated my shoulder (doing something stupid) and it has probably had the biggest negative impact on my life I've ever had. I'm a very athletically driven person, and because of it I've had to drop Badminton, Tennis, Volleyball (conveniently the only sports available in my community) as well as greatly reduce any weightlifting exercises that I do. Yesterday I actually managed to damage it swimming, and I'm worried that if I keep doing that then whatever ligements I had will disappear.
Shoulder dislocation is a common injury, and I was curious if anyone else is dealing/dealt with a shoulder injury before and has any advice for healing or coping with it?
I currently do rotator cuff exercises with a 5 pound weight every two or three days, but even after a month I've seen almost no improvement in preventing my arm from getting that lovely cracking sensation, followed by a sleepless night.
P.s. Two things: I wasn't sure if I should post this in the health and fitness thread, since that seemed more directed to exercise and weightloss rather than injuries.
Also I apoligize if I sound like I'm complaining a lot. I've been an athletic individual for my entire life, and you could say I'm practically going through withdrawls from not being able to do one of the few things I can to fight off boredom in my tiny community.
Thanks
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I've gone through the same thing several times as well. I've had 4 cycling accidents (because of REALLY, REALLY stupid reasons) and have gotten both shoulders injured twice each. My chiropractor says that "Three strikes and you're out"; that is, three injuries on each shoulder before the accumulative damage may actually build up to a point where it is difficult to come back to compete athletically.
Since the injury was about 4-5 months ago, I am interested in how you treated the initial dislocation, and how loud the cracking noise is. Did you get your shoulder set by a doctor (a clean dislocation is fairly easily recovered with proper treatment), or did you let it heal by itself? Is it like a really loud, sharp, obnoxious crack, or the small "crickle" sounds that come when you rotate your shoulder?
If it is the former, I would recommend putting your arm into a sling for a week or two more (at this point, I assume that there is already significant atrophy, so a week or two shouldn't kill it). If it only makes small cracking sounds, I would still be careful, but not worry too much: don't start practicing your tennis serves just yet, but you may want to consider moving on to 8 pound weights, see how large your range of movement is, etc., and then see a physical therapist / doctor to get them to diagnose you with this new information.
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I honestly feel you pain... I haven't dislocated my shoulder but I've suffered a knee injury which stopped all athletic actions for effectively half a year (I had to stop cycling to school and take the bus instead and it was 3km  ) and it is only now, almost a year later that I'm getting back on top.
You are in for a very long haul and there is pretty much nothing you can do to speed it up besides taking care not to strain it too much whilst still doing your exercises.
As far as distraction goes: good thing SC2 is comming out soon huh? Seriously, I think I watched every single terribad movie I came across during those 6 months and I was still bored like never before. Wish I could be more cheerful, but I can honestly admit that I never found a way to not be bored (except when I had my friends give me a ride everywhere).
Out of curiosity, which way did you dislocate it? downwards, forwards or backwards?
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It will be a full year til it's truly healed, and even then, it's still gonna be different. I totally fucked mine (hit by a car and it was wayyyy outta place). That was about 8 years ago and my shoulder still isn't 100% correct. It's def a tiny bit weaker than the other, and has less range of motion. When I go to the beach, if I lay with my hands behind my head like in a situp, my left shoulder can't go flat on the ground.
You can def do sports (I hurt it in Dec. and was playing lacrosse--very painfully--by march) but it's gonna be different. Just make sure you stretch the shit out of it before you do anything. Scar tissue will be the death of you if you don't stretch.
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On July 19 2010 04:21 Navi wrote:
I've gone through the same thing several times as well. I've had 4 cycling accidents (because of REALLY, REALLY stupid reasons) and have gotten both shoulders injured twice each. My chiropractor says that "Three strikes and you're out"; that is, three injuries on each shoulder before the accumulative damage may actually build up to a point where it is difficult to come back to compete athletically.
Since the injury was about 4-5 months ago, I am interested in how you treated the initial dislocation, and how loud the cracking noise is. Did you get your shoulder set by a doctor (a clean dislocation is fairly easily recovered with proper treatment), or did you let it heal by itself? Is it like a really loud, sharp, obnoxious crack, or the small "crickle" sounds that come when you rotate your shoulder?
If it is the former, I would recommend putting your arm into a sling for a week or two more (at this point, I assume that there is already significant atrophy, so a week or two shouldn't kill it). If it only makes small cracking sounds, I would still be careful, but not worry too much: don't start practicing your tennis serves just yet, but you may want to consider moving on to 8 pound weights, see how large your range of movement is, etc., and then see a physical therapist / doctor to get them to diagnose you with this new information.
My initial treatment was pretty meager. I have yet to see a doctor about because at the time I had little concern over it. Thankfully the first time it popped out, it went straight back in immediately after I jumped up, so I didn't think much of it. As for treatment, aside from rotator cuff exercises, I wore a shoulder strap for several days, but I didn't like the feeling that it gave. It did its job keeping my shoulder joint pressed together, but it always felt painful, so I stopped wearing it.
Although my memory is a bit vague of the first few times I tweaked it, this last time it was definately making small crackling sounds. In retrospect it was fortunate that I tweaked it underwater, as this amplified the sound, and I still remember it very clearly.
Thank you very much for this information.
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If it's chronically dislocating and not improving with RC exercises (although it depends a lot if you're doing the right stuff and/or working through pain which you shouldn't be....) then you may have a bankart lesion....
It all depends.
Have you seen an orthopedic doctor about this?
Also, don't listen to anyone else's experiences. They're not you. They won't necessarily be the same problems.
One person who dislocates may have problems with labrum, one may have chronically loose ligaments, one may have ruptured inferior glenohumeral ligament (bankart lesion), one may have instability scapulas.
You should definitely see an orthopedic doc IMO. While some people can probably do a good workup online and determine what may be the actual problem and a course of rehab it's still the damn internet and you need to see a competent professional about this.
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+ Show Spoiler +On July 19 2010 04:25 Ghostcom wrote:I honestly feel you pain... I haven't dislocated my shoulder but I've suffered a knee injury which stopped all athletic actions for effectively half a year (I had to stop cycling to school and take the bus instead and it was 3km ) and it is only now, almost a year later that I'm getting back on top. You are in for a very long haul and there is pretty much nothing you can do to speed it up besides taking care not to strain it too much whilst still doing your exercises. As far as distraction goes: good thing SC2 is comming out soon huh? Seriously, I think I watched every single terribad movie I came across during those 6 months and I was still bored like never before. Wish I could be more cheerful, but I can honestly admit that I never found a way to not be bored (except when I had my friends give me a ride everywhere). Out of curiosity, which way did you dislocate it? downwards, forwards or backwards?
Basically I landed on with my arm facing exactly like this diagram.
http://www.eorthopod.com/images/ContentImages/shoulder/shoulder_dislocation/shoulder_dislocation_anatomy13.jpg
I had a lot of forward momentum as I was jumping over an object, and my foot caught it.
It sounds like any way I look at things, I'll have to visit a doctor. I'd still like to hear about other people's experiences though, just to get an idea of what I'll be dealing with for the next couple months/years.
Thanks
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+ Show Spoiler +On July 19 2010 04:37 eshlow wrote:
If it's chronically dislocating and not improving with RC exercises (although it depends a lot if you're doing the right stuff and/or working through pain which you shouldn't be....) then you may have a bankart lesion....
It all depends.
Have you seen an orthopedic doctor about this?
Also, don't listen to anyone else's experiences. They're not you. They won't necessarily be the same problems.
One person who dislocates may have problems with labrum, one may have chronically loose ligaments, one may have ruptured inferior glenohumeral ligament (bankart lesion), one may have instability scapulas.
You should definitely see an orthopedic doc IMO. While some people can probably do a good workup online and determine what may be the actual problem and a course of rehab it's still the damn internet and you need to see a competent professional about this.
I'm not really sure what to make of how bad it gets dislocated when I tweak it. I don't think it's ever actually come completely out since the first time, but a few times I've had it get torqued to the point where it is painful to lie down for a few days. I'm hoping that the fact it hasn't completely come out means that it is repairable, but up until now I haven't really how stupid I've been not seeing a doctor. I probably still wouldn't have until making this thread.
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On July 19 2010 04:51 rad301 wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On July 19 2010 04:37 eshlow wrote:
If it's chronically dislocating and not improving with RC exercises (although it depends a lot if you're doing the right stuff and/or working through pain which you shouldn't be....) then you may have a bankart lesion....
It all depends.
Have you seen an orthopedic doctor about this?
Also, don't listen to anyone else's experiences. They're not you. They won't necessarily be the same problems.
One person who dislocates may have problems with labrum, one may have chronically loose ligaments, one may have ruptured inferior glenohumeral ligament (bankart lesion), one may have instability scapulas.
You should definitely see an orthopedic doc IMO. While some people can probably do a good workup online and determine what may be the actual problem and a course of rehab it's still the damn internet and you need to see a competent professional about this. I'm not really sure what to make of how bad it gets dislocated when I tweak it. I don't think it's ever actually come completely out since the first time, but a few times I've had it get torqued to the point where it is painful to lie down for a few days. I'm hoping that the fact it hasn't completely come out means that it is repairable, but up until now I haven't really how stupid I've been not seeing a doctor. I probably still wouldn't have until making this thread.
especially after seeing how much sports mean to you, I would definetly follow eshlow's advice and go see a doctor ASAP. Being stingy with your money right now could make or break your ability to play in the future, so don't be :o
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In general, it's not a very good idea to post about serious injuries on the Internet unless you have talked to a medical professional about this.
I have a fairly good knowledge base from physical therapy, but without knowing properly what someone's problem is then it's unlikely that you'll get any information of any use unless it's a commonly identifiable issue.
Dislocations are certainly not an identifiable issue because there can be many reasons why a shoulder is dislocating. Hence, definitely see an orthopod. Try to find one that WORKS WITH sports teams -- preferably college level or above. Those are the ones that are good and the ones you want to go to.
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oh god, go to a doctor. dont ever be frugal about a joint injury. it could be a ton of things
also, if it popped back in right after you hurt it, it's more than likely a seperation, or at worst, a very minor dislocation. Both definitely very sucky still
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Yeah, if you haven't been to a doctor yet, you need to go. I dislocated mine skiing a few years ago, the doctor gave me 2, options: surgery, or physical therapy. Since I wasn't too keen on getting a screw drilled into my arm, I opted for physical therapy. It helped in the short term, but if you stop exercising certain tendons/ligaments, the effect goes away and your shoulder feels week. I'm still not sure it was the best choice, I still feel like I have to be careful with my left arm, its a very debilitating injury. =\
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Wish I could tell you its an easy way out of this, but there really isnt. I damaged my shoulder 3 years ago. First the shoulder was only "overworked" , but I never had the time to fix it properly so I kept playing volleyball with it, and it turned into another injury. Now my scapula is instabile, and is having moves differently from the left one. I have also done countless rotator cuff exercises and stuff like that, but I have always never seen a program through. I quit "proffesional" volleyball and started playing with my left at a lower level. not a good solution, just a suggestion 
My advice is find a proffesional, and basically do what they tell you, dont start before you can etc
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I pretty much gave up sports when I dislocated my shoulder. Good thing thats when I picked up Starcraft :D
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I dislocated my elbow snowboarding a year ago and it freakin sucked... I'd taken a break from swimming and was considering training like crazy to get back into it, but after that accident it was almost imposs to get back on the competitive level because my left arm was so weak and I was so out of shape
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dont pro athletes dislocate their shoulders all the time? , then get some MRI, then are back on their skates/shoes a few months later?
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yea, they're also working with top doctors, going through mad therapy because it's all they do, and their bodies are generally in tip top shape anyways
dislocated shoulders suck, I ended up having to get surgery after my 4th (or 5th, can't remember)
Haven't had any problems since with it popping out, but my strength is shit now, and my flexibility is way less
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I've always had a mild issue with my left shoulder after 1 day when I was 14 playing volleyball in a pool. I pulled my left arm out backwards to over my head while jumping to try and catch a loose ball, and I really yanked it out of socket when the difference from water to air applied.
It's been kinda mildy messed up ever since.
sorry
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On July 19 2010 06:44 CharlieMurphy wrote:
I've always had a mild issue with my left shoulder after 1 day when I was 14 playing volleyball in a pool. I pulled my left arm out backwards to over my head while jumping to try and catch a loose ball, and I really yanked it out of socket when the difference from water to air applied.
It's been kinda mildy messed up ever since.
sorry
I hit a tree while skiing suffice it to say my hip has been a little 'loose' ever since - I'm not quite sure how to describe this but it never causes any pain whatsoever, or any problems that I have seen just once in a while I will feel it pop like it was out of place. I think it really has a lot to do with the way peoples joints are formed how much or how little cartilage one has and so on. After all some people can dislocate joints at will and pop them back in - obviously with some pain, but no evident long-term damage. Also cartilage can have a different hardness based on individual. In the case of the OP I'd say his cartilage is rather hard, whereas someone who could dislocate a joint at will has soft cartilage. I've heard that shark's fin supplement pills (you can get these at most drug stores and the 'health' aisle in grocery stores) will help with softening up cartilage and joints in general and also will help recover from such an injury over time.
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I've had surgery on both my shoulders. Combined, I disloacted the both of them maybe 30 times?
Anyway, surgery was the only solution. I had the operations suggested and performed by Joseph Mayo III (Yes, the Mayo Clinic Mayo) and he does them like routine. He said that once it comes out of socket, if the person is under the age of 30 he just suggests operation right away. I think he's right... If it comes out once, it never gets better and only gets worse.
Even after 2 surgeries, they still feel relatively weak and I cringe when thinking about throwing a baseball or something. I need to build my shoulder/arm strength back up, but I broke my arm on a kid's face on accident so I'll be waiting a little while. I did that at a hardcore show as well as throw my shoulders out of socket many times there. I think my pit-bossing mosh days are over.
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I seperated mine in february playing rugby, thank god i didn't dislocate it. I pretty much stopped lifting for 6 weeks and kept playing rugby very painfully. Definitely rehab the fuck out of it. Mine's still not 100%, even if it is close and i just seperated it T_T
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On July 19 2010 10:46 SichuanPanda wrote:Show nested quote +On July 19 2010 06:44 CharlieMurphy wrote:
I've always had a mild issue with my left shoulder after 1 day when I was 14 playing volleyball in a pool. I pulled my left arm out backwards to over my head while jumping to try and catch a loose ball, and I really yanked it out of socket when the difference from water to air applied.
It's been kinda mildy messed up ever since.
sorry I hit a tree while skiing suffice it to say my hip has been a little 'loose' ever since - I'm not quite sure how to describe this but it never causes any pain whatsoever, or any problems that I have seen just once in a while I will feel it pop like it was out of place. I think it really has a lot to do with the way peoples joints are formed how much or how little cartilage one has and so on. After all some people can dislocate joints at will and pop them back in - obviously with some pain, but no evident long-term damage. Also cartilage can have a different hardness based on individual. In the case of the OP I'd say his cartilage is rather hard, whereas someone who could dislocate a joint at will has soft cartilage. I've heard that shark's fin supplement pills (you can get these at most drug stores and the 'health' aisle in grocery stores) will help with softening up cartilage and joints in general and also will help recover from such an injury over time.
Oh goodness..... please don't talk about physiology if you don't know what you're talking about.
How do you even know if he has a articular cartilage type injury (in this case likely glenoid artiicular cartilage or glenoid labrum)?
MOST problems with dislocation are problems with muscular instability coupled with loose or stretched out ligaments.
People need to stop offering advice or their own experience. Let the man see a professional. (this is everyone... not just you).
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On July 19 2010 10:46 SichuanPanda wrote:Show nested quote +On July 19 2010 06:44 CharlieMurphy wrote:
I've always had a mild issue with my left shoulder after 1 day when I was 14 playing volleyball in a pool. I pulled my left arm out backwards to over my head while jumping to try and catch a loose ball, and I really yanked it out of socket when the difference from water to air applied.
It's been kinda mildy messed up ever since.
sorry I've heard that shark's fin supplement pills (you can get these at most drug stores and the 'health' aisle in grocery stores) will help with softening up cartilage and joints in general and also will help recover from such an injury over time.
No, this is just a stupid myth perpetuated by the Japanese, who make a killing off of selling something that has no proven effects.
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EPT
