Dislocated shoulders

[somebloke]

Hey Arses.

Well this is going to take a bit of time to type with one arm......

Yesterday evening i dislocated my left shoulder after falling backwards whilst playing soccer. Easily the most painful thing i have ever done, had to get an ambulance out so they could get some morphine into me....

Then off to hospital where they knocked me out to get the shoulder back in place.... The shoulder went forwards rather then dislocating backwards as the jolt pushed the shoulder up when i hit the ground quite fast and hard.

My question to fellow arses on here is if they've done this to themselves as well and how long it took to be back in good nick.

Obviously this is going to affect a fair bit of what i do as i play heaps of soccer socially and competitively in winter and also currently cricket. Let alone this is also going to stop me working on the street in my usual role with our criminal friends out there and will put me in the front station on light duties.

I haven't broken it or done any nerve damage with the before/after x-rays, which is some good news.

So far i've been told to expect to wear a sling for the arm for a while, i'm in no pain at all since the shoulder went back in but movement is restricted a lot considering it only happened 24hrs ago.

Thoughts/experiences?

[c.j]

Ouch,

I dislocated my left shoulder in High School playing rugby. Peth whistle and a Doc that was about one hundred and eleventy years old was all I got.

Took about 12 weeks iirc to be able to feel comfortable using my arm in a normal manner. Stopped playing rugby and pretty much spent my whole rehab in the pool. Kickboard, then slow swimming breathstroke. Don't really remember too much, was in 1995 I think.

Thing you need to be aware of is the rotator cuff (sp?). It can be permanently weakened by such trauma, or as with my right ankle, the signal your brain gets from the area you lose confidence compared to prior to the injury.
My grandfather also dislocated his left shoulder in a rally accident back in the 50's. He has never been able to lift his arm above shoulder height since. Not to say you will have this problem, but nerve damage can be permanent and it can take time to identify that.

Lads I have worked with in the green machine have had reconstructive surgery after similar accidents. Cool scars though.

my two cents, just rest up and get a good physio.

edit - too effin tired to type, looking for subi bits on ebay...

[Cutter]

Mate. That sucks, been there, got the X-rays.
Umm Sin is right, took about 8 -10 weeks for me, but I did a dumb thing.
When it started getting better I stopped the physio and gym, bad idea.
From that I spent a few years with it happening more frequently.
It was only after going back to strengthening the muscles and maintaining a proper posture that it got better.
That being said it different for everyone. It can be a "once of" sort of a thing, just the wrong force at the wrong angle.
Its more about being aware of treating it gently for a while and developing some resistance & support around the joint.

[somebloke]

Thanks guys. I'm seeing my GP on Monday and from there he'll refer us off to a physio. Hopefully it's good enough by start of Feb, heading to Vietnam for 2.5 weeks.