AC Separation

Did a similar thing about 7yrs ago.. A "superman" fall on the ski hill, left shoulder took the brunt and tore up all the ligaments. Did a lot of therapy with my chiro including accu, ART and electrosurge. Then spent 8weeks in the pool, the first 3 or 4 just doing figure 8"s and treading water type resistance moves. Moved on to swimming laps and stretching etc. Most important was the ART and not allowing adhesions to develop around the joint limiting mobility.. It does still click when stretching and feels sore and a bit weak after long sessions but is otherwise good to go. Took 6 months to get back to a normal shoulder. Good luck.

 

Yeah so did I. Now I just wanna kill myself.

Though sharing similar thoughts with Hanna has pepped me up a bit. Maybe I'll get high today before I kill myself.

 

I hope you have a good dr!
i recently changed my insurance to HMO (cuz i rarely go to the dr...) Broke my pinky and need surgery. it's been 1 week, and it doesnt look like ill even be able to see an ortho specialist for another week... F HMOs

 

If the doctor is unsure that surgery will even be effective and still wants to operate you should run out of there and never go back. The idea of a preventative surgery blows my mind. I'd be looking into rest and 6-12 weeks of PT before I let anyone cut me. Especially if this is the first time you've separated the shoulder. If it starts to pop up frequently then that's another story.

In the case or arthroscopic I'm not sure what level of damage will be done to the muscles and tendons so it may not be that crazy. For reference I went the reconstructive route and my shoulder separated a two years later. It was only after intensive PT and constant strength training of the shoulders that has kept if popping out for over 10 years now.

 

Swellinfopedia always has the answer! Good luck either way, man!

 

AC tanked further today.
riley don't kill yourself; at least not til you have surfed w/me.

 

I have AC separation too. Don't mean to hijack either. Starting a project in Virginia and I'm down here full time. Home to AC only every other weekend. I'm not sure if she has bottomed out yet, but I think so. Living there certainly has given me a unique perspective, and reminds me how lucky I am. As living down here broadens that perspective and reminds me how lucky I am. I know Jersey is polluted too, but DAMN you should see how royally fu(ked this southern branch of the Elizabeth River is.

The beaches in AC are beautiful, the fishing is good, boardwalk is in decent shape, killer restaurants that aren't chains, and it has most of the physical characteristics that make ALL of the other barrier islands such desirable places to be. Got a lot of problems to work through, but the city will bounce back. And hopefully I'll be home sooner than later. In the meantime, I've already scored on an easy run to NC (barrels without gloves in January), and I'll get my first crack at VA beach during this very promising swell on Thursday.

 

Never had a surgery, although I'm on deck for the end of this month. Not a shoulder though. That being said...if it were me... I would do it now only because the risk of limited movement in a shoulder would be more frightening than the surgery. Even though that is most likely the surgeons angle... I'd buy what he's selling.

 

Everyone reacts different to this surgery with the biggest ingredient being therapy afterwards. If you don't follow through with the complete therapy given to you there will be issues down the road for sure. I had this surgery 10 yrs ago and felt great about mid way of therapy completion so I ditched it. Should have stayed the course. I have full mobility but lack the strength I had before and I have to get a cortisone shot any time I over do it. In addition I also have the "clicking" when I move a certain way but it's not painful in any way. The people I have talked to that had great results took it slow and completed their therapy so if you opt for the surgery take that into great consideration.

 

You've torn both the acromioclavicular ligament as well as the coracoclavicular (the wider one under the collarbone). You must have gotten hit hard enough to separate but not completely dislocate your shoulder. Surgery is NOT necessary -time will heal the annoying popping sensation although you will always have a little bump on your shoulder. After you're not in pain, you can start strengthening your shoulder again. You will not have troubles using your left arm once it heals. One would think that a needle and thread could be used to simply stitch the two ligaments that tore to better align things while it heals but perhaps there is some inhibition with the healing due to the invasiveness? the stitching? I don't know why but surgery does NOT seem to do much better than just a "time heals all wounds". Just make sure you add some beef to your shoulder in the pool (after you're not in too much pain) so you don't pull the whole arm out of joint some day (this is lots more painful). And the new beef will give the shoulder more stand-alone strength overall (with the downside of some slight weight-gain to your body) Luckily, you did not dislocate your shoulder and probably never will, since it takes an unusually hard blow to have that happen.

You might want to ask around why surgery is not simply done routinely - I guess it's just a hard job and perhaps the ligaments are hard to work with without a donor piece to help the attachment.

Frankly, by now, I would think they would have a piece of something growing in a testtube that they could just wrap around the ligaments (with some ligament glue) until it heals.

Your age of 39 is more or less on your side.

I thought this was another Atlantic City thread.

 

A.R.T. is Active Release Therapy (Technique) and Acupuncture

No clicking when surfing or swimming, but push-ups or some weight movements like scarecrows give an occasional click. It's all about having strength back and full mobility, a couple clicks here and there aren't a big thing and don't cause pain in my case.

 

I had problems with my shoulder ~12 years ago. I had "clicking" and it got to the point where I couldn't even a "dip" at the gym without pain or discomfort. Pull ups were also bothersome.. anything that put the joint in tension or stress. I realized my rotator cuff was probably weak or slightly torn, possibly due to the neglect of exercising these smaller muscles, causing the joint to operate somewhat out of balance. Bench-offs might be fine at Belmar, but gentlemen, do not neglect working your 'cuffs with lighter weights.

On my own, as my appointment with the "specialist" was months off, I started a program of stretching and light exercise for my shoulders. I can't locate the link for the exact exercises I did, but this http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/PDFs/Rehab_Shoulder_5.pdf seems close. I will post the link if I eventually find the exact ones I did, but these look similar.

After a few months I was back to being able to doing 20+ dips and pull-ups without discomfort.

I still need to maintain these exercises or else the shoulders will "act up" and start to click or show symptoms.

I would try an approach using some form of stretching, light exercise, or PT (a conservative approach) rather than jumping into surgery.

I would think the protocol the doctor should use in addition to an examination of movement and pain would be an xray, and an MRI to determine the necessity of surgery. From my understanding, if you have bone spurs or a certain degree of tear, then surgery would be necessary.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and I am only sharing my personal experience as I understand it. Anyone schooled in ortho or PT please augment or correct.

Best wishes.

 

All I know is at 39 years old, this effectiveness of this kind of surgery is iffy. At 17 it's a different story. But... if you like 50/50 odds, go for it.

 

hey man i went through the same thing but i ate it in a barrel and shoulder checked the sandbar completely tearing my ac ligament and my cc ligament in my right shoulder. It was the most annoying and painful injury i have ever had so i know what you are going through. It has been 2 years since my injury and i opted to not go for the surgery. There was too much risk involved and i was told that i could, if i worked at it get full range of motion back. I get fatigued sometimes when paddling but its nothing major, my muscles almost completely compensated for the injury. The key, if your are going to go the non surgical route, is to swim. Once it isn't painful to do get on it and keep with it. Thats how i was successful with mine. Now i barely notice it besides the little bump i have. if i could do it over i still wouldn't go for the surgery.

 

If you're disciplined enough to significantly increase the strength of the surrounding shoulder muscles to compensate for the permanently "stretched" shoulder joint then by all means avoid the surgery. Surgery should always be last resort. Separated my AC in 2009 and suffered thru with no surgery... took some time for it to heal and I was lazy and did nothing... hurt for a couple years. Then took the time to understand basic shoulder mechanics and how to properly rehab and strengthen and have never felt better. In fact... I am now as stronger paddler then I was before the injury. Also.. many don't realize they have the right to ask their doctor for a script for Physical Therapy. Find a good one and tell your doctor you want a referral. If your doc won't give it to you... find a new doctor. My wife is a physical therapist who routinely sees people that took their doctors orders as "law" and ended up much worse for the fact.