[ianv]

I was going to start climbing seriously again last autumn but pretty much straight away managed to dislocate my shoulder badly. Its been about 4 months now and there is no way I can get my arm properly above my head.

Anyone got experience of a dislocated shoulder and if so how long was it before you were able to climb/train again.

Cheers

[GCW]

I did mine in 1999, and it's still unstable. I suspect some labral involvement.

The main thing was a lack of physio and rehab. I strongly recommend you seek advice.

[jimbo]

I echo GCW's advice to seek professional help before doing anything.

[ianv]

I am getting physio but really interested in hearing peoples experiences of time scale to recovery

[GCW]

If you have a simple dislocation with no other injury, I am surprised you don't have a full range of movement after 4 months and I would be looking into why not.

You should be able to attain full movements reasonably quickly, then cuff etc rehab can be ongoing.

[Drewski Rootbitch]

For mine....Only happened once, a bad landing (onto my arse with a straight arm behind me for support) popped it out, then 10 seconds later, straight back in with no complications .
1 month until light climbing (loads of rehab)
2 months until bit more adventurous stuff
4 months until full fitness
No long term problems
No instability at all, but I'm a bitch to the theraband and work my rotator cuff pretty much every session.
I'm sure I was lucky, but I also dealt with the injury from day 1 (or maybe day 2).

[ianv]

It was a bad one, out for over two hours and my arm was actually stuck above my head. It was put back in with the help of gas and morphine so i guess I have a bit of time yet.

[GCW]

The length of time it was out isn't that important, and they usually are reduced with entonox and morphine.  Unless there was an associated cuff tear etc I would be concerned that your progress is a bit slow.

[ianv]

GCW are you a doctor or physio?. You are getting me worried now as I do not think the rotator cuff was damaged and no one has said that it is taking longer than can be expected.

[GCW]

I'm not a physio, ain't got the brains for that.  Maybe Joe will be along soon to offer an opinion.

Are you still having gains in movement or are you stuck?  If I were you I'd speak to your physio about how things are progressing.

[fatdoc]

 

[ghisino]

ianv,
have you seen a shoulder surgeon in the first place?
you've been doing physio : when did u start? how many sessions/week? Does your physio give you "homework"? Is it clear to your physio that you want to get back to a quite intensive sport as soon as possible, or he just wants to get you back to ordinary life?

4 months and not having an acceptable range of motion back seems quite odd unless everybody (you, your doctor, your physio) is being overcareful.

what happens when you try to raise your arm? is it just pain, discomfort and some minor cracking or does it dislocate again?


In my case (see details below) i had been told that being "too" careful and not trying to speed the recovery process in any possible way is just losing time if your 1st objective is getting back to a sport involving your upper body. Basically, either intensive physio gives promising results in the short term (3 months) or surgery is advisable.
Spreading the amount of work you should do in those 3 months over a longer period won't change things : rest works in the very beginning, then what really heals you is the volume of "physio-training" you do.


---------------------------------

my experience :
-partial dislocation (popped out to some extent with horrible tearing/cracking feeling during a one-armed swing and went back in by itself. Very painful at night and feeling unstable, i.e. it felt as if it would almost pop out when i coughed hard)
-about one week with arm strapped to chest, meanwhile i had MRI, which suggested a SLAP1 injury, i.e. slight tear at the biceps' tendon insertion into the shoulder articulation. Surgeon advised to give physio alone a proper try before considering any operation. He also said to unstrap the arm, immobilizing it for too long does more harm than good unless you're recovering from surgery.
-started physio about 10 days after injury. This started with some passive stuff to get my range of motion back and quickly evolved into a in a daily 30-minutes-or-more theraband/exercise routine, that i could do alone at home. Kept doing that routine for about 6 months and did finger rolls to keep finger strenght.
-1 month after injury i could climb on slabs. I could definitely raise my arm above my head, even if with fear and discomfort...
-3 months after injury : 2nd assessment with surgeon. He concluded that even if my shoulder was still painful, it was quite stable. He advised to keep cranking hard with the theraband and wished good luck.
-6 months after injury i could climb properly, still with some pain and anxiety on several moves
-9 months after i started pulling plastic again. Also started to do some shoulder-oriented weight room work.
-1.5 years after injury i felt "back to normal", i.e. no serious/major limitations on the injuried side, and matched my pre-injury climbing ability/fitness level in all styles

[ianv]

Thanks for the long reply, really interesting. Reading your post has made me think that I may have misrepresented the injury a bit.
It was a bad dislocation, I did it dirt jumping and landed pretty straight on my arm popping the ball out of the socket where it stayed till being put back at A+E under anaesthetics. I saw the surgeon twice after the injury, the second time about 3 weeks after the initial visit.  Since then I have had physio once a week for the first month and then every fortnight.   I think the dislocation has stabilised but my shoulder feels weak and I get a pain in the tricep and/or top of the shoulder if I move my arm too far backwards. I can raise my arm about 120 degrees from vertical (think nazi salute) but then get stopped by the pain in the shoulder. My physio is pretty understanding and encourages exercise and I do get movements to do (he knows what I want to do and empathises), I can go to the gym and do weights but any pulling exercises needs to be rowing rather than pull downs (If I try pull downs I have to lock out the injured side to get the bar down and then pull at an angle) and all the weights I am capable of are pretty low on the injured side.
Don’t think I have become stuck, but improvements seem slow which is really frustrating as I have a room full of ply wood and resin holds that has been sitting there unused since September.  With the above in mind, does it still seem a slow recovery??

Ian

[tj]

Hi, just to add to the above... I'm a physio & in my experience I would have said that-

If you've avoided aggravating the shoulder too much, done the appropriate scapula stability and rotator cuff exercises regularly & have no restrictions in the soft tissues then where you are at 4 months is a 'slow recovery'. I'd be a little concerned about further damage such as SLAP lesions/RC tears.

In which case it may be worth asking your physio about further investigations.

At the end of the day, it can be pretty tricky to make an accurate diagnosis in an actual physio exam, let alone over t'internet... I feel a little hesitant about sticking my oar in, but I think from what you've said then raising the issue with your physio is a minimum.

Lots of good quality info here: http://www.shoulderdoc.co.uk/ Although beware the internet diagnosis!

No instability at all, but I'm a bitch to the theraband and work my rotator cuff pretty much every session.
I'm sure I was lucky, but I also dealt with the injury from day 1 (or maybe day 2).

Why can't more patients be like you?! I may have to frame that quote on the clinic wall...

[GCW]

With the above in mind, does it still seem a slow recovery??

Ian

Yes.

Although, I have to say the "popped out and straight back in" comments sound like a labral injury/ subluxation rather than a true dislocation, so recovery times will potentially be quicker.

I would still be concerned about your progress though.

[ianv]

Thanks all, will have words next physio visit.