Hello all,
I am from Spain and I am very glad to be a new member in this forum (sorry if my english is not good enough).
24 days ago I fell on my shoulder while I was skiing and the result was an AC dislocation grade 3 (I tore all the ligaments attached to the clavicle). I wore a sling for 10 days and began my rehab. The thing is that my passion, my life, and one of the reasons because I am happy when I wake up is bodybuilding.
I have investigated this injury in the Internet and have talked to several traumatologist and have come to the conclusion that is more than probable that my shoulder won´t be ever the same. Well sorry but I can´t accept this (I am just 25 years old). One of the best shoulder surgeons in my city recommended me to have surgery (modified Weaver-Dunn) but some others recommend conservative treatment as they say that functionally one way or the other may have the same end…
I´ve seen some cases in this forum that have had this injury and would like to know what you recommend me. My objective: waste as less time as possible. I don´t care what to do as long as I recover my strenght in that shoulder.
I really would appreciate your help as I think there are many experienced guys in this forum. I am taking antidepressants and starting with psychologist next monday as i am desperated. My objective was to have my first contest in October and now everything is a fucking shit. I didn´t know that I was so dependant on the gym.
Thank you guys
I feel your pain pal. Literally. I dislocated my left arm about 5 years ago sparring and it’s never been the same - has popped out about six times since then and is perennially my weak link as a result.
I’m a candidate for surgery as well, but here’s the thing - if you get surgery, odds are is if it’s bad enough, they’re gonna bolt that fucker back into place, meaning there’s a good chance your’e going to lose a lot of your range of motion.
On the other hand, there’s few guarantees that it will actually work at all- I’ve known a couple guys who had the surgery, but then had the arm dislocate again ANYWAY.
Most of the time, you can make do if it pops out once. Go do your rehab, do shoulder strengthening exercises for the rotator cuff and scapula that will keep it strong, and if you’re just lifting you’ll probably be able to get away with it.
For me, it’s really limited me - I won’t be competing in boxing as a result. But that’s me. If you’re not playing sports, you’ve got a good chance of it not happening again if you’re careful and take care of it.
I’m not a doctor, of course, just someone who’s been through it
Are you talking about shoulder dislocation or about AC dislocation? I think that once the AC is dislocated it doesnt separates again… Its a different thing
Thanks for your reply man. Correct me if I am wrong but you are talking about shoulder separation. Its quite different to AC dislocation since AC dislocated wont separate again once all ligaments are tore.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
I feel your pain pal. Literally. I dislocated my left arm about 5 years ago sparring and it’s never been the same - has popped out about six times since then and is perennially my weak link as a result.
I’m a candidate for surgery as well, but here’s the thing - if you get surgery, odds are is if it’s bad enough, they’re gonna bolt that fucker back into place, meaning there’s a good chance your’e going to lose a lot of your range of motion.
On the other hand, there’s few guarantees that it will actually work at all- I’ve known a couple guys who had the surgery, but then had the arm dislocate again ANYWAY.
Most of the time, you can make do if it pops out once. Go do your rehab, do shoulder strengthening exercises for the rotator cuff and scapula that will keep it strong, and if you’re just lifting you’ll probably be able to get away with it.
For me, it’s really limited me - I won’t be competing in boxing as a result. But that’s me. If you’re not playing sports, you’ve got a good chance of it not happening again if you’re careful and take care of it.
I’m not a doctor, of course, just someone who’s been through it [/quote]
But you are talking about separated shoulder or AC joint?
After almost 4 weeks I think that the best way to resolve this would be having surgery. i know one of the best shoulder surgeons here in Spain and he recommends me the surgery. He says there is no way that with a grade 3 AC separation I will be able to lift weights as I did pre-injury. I am quite confused…
Does anyone had this injury before? Were you able to lift as preinjury without surgery? I would really appreciate your help.
Thanks
I got a grade V separation of my AC joint 3 years ago while doing Judo. Because I am an active person who has always done sports, I was advised to get surgery. I underwent surgery 4 days after the injury. They drilled a hole in my clavicle and my acromion and tied them together with a cable. The idea is that by keeping the two pieces close together, the ligaments can heal in time. The surgery caused significant pain initially but after 1 month, the pain was almost gone.
However, I had lost a significant amount of mobility. I took an additional 4 months to regain full motion in my shoulder and a whole year to regain the level of strength I had before the injury. I can tell you that I now have 100% mobility in my shoulder (compared to healthy shoulder) and 98% of the strength. I only rarely have some tenderness when I press incline but it’s minor.
I strongly recommend getting the surgery if your doctor says that you are a good candidate.
So here I am, finally had the surgery 15 weeks ago (modified Weaver Dunn). I am not happy with the aesthetic result as there is no simmetry with the other shoulder at all. Besides it hurts and doesn’t have the same strength.
I am aware that my bodybuilding and modelling career is over and of course I am totally depressed. I know that as the time goes by I wont be so sad but I would like to know if anyone has had to face something like this. I am not going to surrender and will try everything. I have been taking HGH 3,3 IU every day since the injury (20 weeks ago) and will try Deca in a couple of weeks.
thank you all
Greetings from Spain
Don’t give up. Type 2 AC injury here, 14 weeks and still not back to lifting. Typing with one hand because I sprained a wrist as well. Tendinosis in both shoulders. Golfer’s elbow too. L4-L5 and L5-S1 herniations.
Never give up. Be patient and be creative with your rehab. Find ways to stimulate muscle without causing pain.
I really hate the idea of not having symetry and being unable to lift as before. I know that you guys in the US play football and that this is a very common injury in your sport. Does anyone had a grade 3 separation and has fully recovered?
You can, but now it’s been over 4 months for my Type 2 AC separation, and still not healed. I’m kinda in the same boat as you. Your shoulder won’t look the same again, so don’t fret that. Focus on making it functional again.
[quote]njrusmc wrote:
You can, but now it’s been over 4 months for my Type 2 AC separation, and still not healed. I’m kinda in the same boat as you. Your shoulder won’t look the same again, so don’t fret that. Focus on making it functional again.[/quote]
Yeah you’re right but I don’t really think it’ll be ever functional again (at least as it was before). Basic exercises as bench presses, dips and pull ups have to be avoided in this kind of injuries.
This injury really sucks because the feeling of having a loose and hanging shoulder not connected to the shoulder blade is disgusting. I still haven’t lost the hope but not very optimistic though. I dream of bench pressing 150kg as I used to…
I had the surgery and it was very successfull. It was AC TightRope. There is a almost no asymetry. There is still a tiny bump but you have to look for it to see it. I have a huge 6 inch scar but I’ve been told chicks dig them. Still waiting for the proof. I can tell you that 15 weeks is not long. At this point you must be closer to 6 months.
You should have your mobility back and you should be gaining some strenght back. For me it has been 3.5 years and I can do dips, bench and overhead press. I have some issues with incline press. I do have a slightly lower strenght level with the shoulder but I only notice when I PR.
Unfortunatly I don’t have any experience with your exact type of surgery.
[quote]franco2210 wrote:
I had the surgery and it was very successfull. It was AC TightRope. There is a almost no asymetry. There is still a tiny bump but you have to look for it to see it. I have a huge 6 inch scar but I’ve been told chicks dig them. Still waiting for the proof. I can tell you that 15 weeks is not long. At this point you must be closer to 6 months.
You should have your mobility back and you should be gaining some strenght back. For me it has been 3.5 years and I can do dips, bench and overhead press. I have some issues with incline press. I do have a slightly lower strenght level with the shoulder but I only notice when I PR.
Unfortunatly I don’t have any experience with your exact type of surgery.[/quote]
Yes, I am 5 months post surgery and my mobility is 100% back. These are the exercises which I cannot do: dips and pull ups. When I do flat or decline bench I have pain but I am close to my previous best. The weird thing is that I have to use alway dumbbells because if I use the bar the uninjured side works much more and this is not good.
Franco, did you feel a weird feeling in your injured side scapula. I feel a constant tightness in my scapula, as if it were always doing a great effort. Have you been able to develop your chest as you did before the injury? How long until you stopped having weird feelings?
Thank you for your help
Yeah, I have also experienced tightness in my scapula. At the start it was always tight but in the past few years I have only felt the tightness after I workout do heavy bench and overhead press. I believe they over tighten the graft/tightrope which connects the clavicle to the scapula in order to compensate for stretch over time.
I think you have the right idea using dumbbells. Firstly, you are right that they allow each shoulder to work independently which forces you?re weak and injured one to get stronger. It also allows each shoulder to follow a different movement pattern to compensate for the injury.
As I have said before, I have difficulty doing incline press. This has impeded my inner/upper chest development but honestly, I have a lot of work to do before that becomes by limiting factor.
Good luck, it sounds like you are on track to a full recovery.
[quote]franco2210 wrote:
Yeah, I have also experienced tightness in my scapula. At the start it was always tight but in the past few years I have only felt the tightness after I workout do heavy bench and overhead press. I believe they over tighten the graft/tightrope which connects the clavicle to the scapula in order to compensate for stretch over time.
I think you have the right idea using dumbbells. Firstly, you are right that they allow each shoulder to work independently which forces you?re weak and injured one to get stronger. It also allows each shoulder to follow a different movement pattern to compensate for the injury.
As I have said before, I have difficulty doing incline press. This has impeded my inner/upper chest development but honestly, I have a lot of work to do before that becomes by limiting factor.
Good luck, it sounds like you are on track to a full recovery.
[/quote]
How are you doing with dips and pull ups? If you are 100% at flat bench you shouldnt be having issues to develop your chest