Going to cover all the bases incase someone has a similar issue now or somewhere down the line. With how uncommon this injury is the more info out their the better. I have done countless hours of research been to multiple Physios, Chiros, Doctors, got imaging done everything and nothing has helped more than this Naturopathic doctor I was referred to by a friend who does PROLO/PRP full time and has been for over a decade. At times it will feel hopeless.
Background: 21years old, bodybuilding for 4.5years and soccer/rugby before.
INJURY:Started may 2016 as a nagging pain but easy to work around…as of november 2016 am unable to go to gym or do a single push up without pain. Doctor believes started with a car accident (august 2015) and got worse with weight lifting, especially with bench/shoulders. XRAY showed nothing,CT Scan/Ultra Sound show ACJ 10mm seperation SCJ 13mm seperation. No ligaments are believed to be torn, but very Lax. Instability of the joint has caused traps, neck, chest, erectors to get very tight at times, and that has messed with my ribs causing hyper mobility.
SYMPTOMS: Pain around collarbone and acj/scj with movement. First rib sharp pain. Pain between scapula. muslce tightness all over. General unstable feeling in shoulder. Jaw pain, achey hands/arm. Sternum pain
PROLO: Started Prolo in January 2017 after trying everything else. Got 7 injections from January to May. For the first time I’m seeing some progress very little though. Jaw pain completely gone and muscles feel less tight. ACJ down to 6.7mm SCJ 12.7 after 4-5 injections. Then it stalled in the next 2 injections i noticed no difference. At this point he recommended PRP injections and I agreed.
PRP: May 10th first PRP session after 4weeks I noticed shoulder feeling more stable and my first rib pain was gone. Overall tightness was alot less as well but still not feeling close to 100%. Ultra sound shows with the one injection ACJ down to 6mm but the SCJ is still at 12.7. The acj is alot more stable now but the biceps tendon is believed to be compensating and causing pain in the area. Had my second injection 6days ago will continue to update this post until im better.
SYMPTOMS THAT REMAIN:
Pain around collarbone
Pain between scapula seems to have crept to the left side
Pain in sternum isolated to left, same rib as the one between scapula
Muslce tightness
Acheyness in elbow/hand althought less frequent
Shoulder feels unstable at times
Their was a old post with a member “arcadiafades” who had this injury and was the subject in a case study involving this injury who fixed it with prp. If anyone knows how I can get in contact with him or anyone else who has had this injury to discuss if it has remained stable I would greatly appreciate it.
I would highly recommend planks for shoulder stability.
Also, adding in Yoga once a week can make a big difference in overall shoulder health. I find that the planks/yoga does me more good than traditional PT exercises.
I have a Chiropractor that was adjusting my ribs in the area I was complaining about. I did about 7 sessions. It didn’t really eliminate the problem, but allowed by right side to loosen up a little bit.
@gsg96 how are you feeling now? I am contemplating similar treatment but can’t decide if I should do surgery (which I don’t want to do - not convinced it won’t cause more problems ) or a combo of PRP/IRAP (autologous blood) injection. I’ve got a torn rotator cuff & torn labrum in my right shoulder; after 4 months of PT I’m worse off and in more pain. And depressed since I haven’t been able to workout the way I usually do! It’s tough to find a lot people who have taken these treatments and are talking about their recovery. It’s an expen$ive risk!
Hey man sorry for taking so long to reply. I can’t give you an answer on the rotator cuff to be honest, the joints iv had problems with lack a lot of blood supply so healing either takes forever or doesn’t happen that’s why for this injury I 100% recommend PRP. Also keep in mind no surgeon in my area would operate on my SC joint it’s a very risky surgery. Now I do know 2 powerlifters who fixed their rotator cuff tears with PRP injections, one is 100% the other is 90% has minor issues. Sorry I couldn’t give you a better answer.
Alright for anyone following here is a update. As of now my ac and sc aren’t causing me problem…but I still have pain and am unable to lift weights. My prolotherapist says the next step for me is rehab, but here’s the twist. Today I found a physio local very well known in the community not so much online(where I was looking) who wrote a book on SC joints, so I thought what the hell let’s check him out. He is One of the best medical practitioners I have ever been to, he narrowed my problem to my NECK. Specifically C2C3 and believes that is the root of the problem. He truly believes he can help me even offered to spend an extra hour explaining the science to why and what’s going on with my body.
Basically my stabilizing muscles aren’t working, and all my muscles have gotten very weak. I’m seeing him again in 1 week and will start doing the excercises that he showed me. The prolo/PRP has reduced my pain by 70% but the goal is to be functional,now it’s on to the next step. 11 months deep hoping this is coming to an end… thanks guys i hope somewhere down the line this helps someone in a similar position as me.
Been a while since my last update. Doing a lot better these days. So since the last post I had an MRI of my thoracic spine showing a buldge at t3-t4. My physio said I would need to get it operated on which to me made 0 sense since I’m 21 and the disc is only a buldge. I dropped him and started going to this active rehab facility which has been amazing so far. Getting into lifting again starting light. Will post again soon.
Not sure how long it has been but great news I am 100% back in the Gym!! Have been bulking for a while and I believe I am now stronger than pre injury. In the end what helped me the most was I went to a rehab facility. I started off 4-5x/week 2 hours sessions of intense rehab and combined that with once a week massage or cupping etc something to tell the muscles in spasm to relax. This allowed me to slowly transition to my bodybuilding routine and now currently I am 100% focus on my goal of bodybuilding now. This was such a learning experience I have incorporated a lot of movement I learned rehabbing just to prevent any injuries in the future. Hopefully at some point this Log will be of help to someone.
Hello there. I have stretched and torn ligaments in my right sternoclavicular joint for 2 years now. I underwent 5 prolotherapy (dextrose) sessions but regained no stability. What did you do to get back to exercise? Will PRP help??! Please let me know.
Hey,
I am having some issues with my left sc joint. Started out with a strain posteriorly then cracking in front of the shoulder. Pain right around ac joint. Got impatient and went to a chiropractor. She cracked my clavicle. Pain started radiating down collarbone. Got an mri and shoulder showed labrum tear and posterior subluxation. Got a cortizone. Pain in the front went away for a week but pain at sc joint intensified. Waiting to get a ct scan on it and treatment plan. Praying its stemming from shoulder but I’ve had stiffness and cracking at sc joint and cracking in sternum. Get a feeling of pressure in my ribs near the sc joint. Burns underneath collarbone and under chin. Is this what yours felt like. Is prp for real?
Hey,
Didnt you have major sc joint injuries and you used prp? How are you now? I would love to talk to you in more detail about thjd subject as I am going through it now. Dont wantbto be in pain and restricted forever.
Hey, so did they do prolo in the ACJ and SCJ? When they injected into the ACJ, can you explain the technique they used? Anything you remember from it such as how much cc they injected, did they pepper it, what ml syringe was used, what gauge? If they did the SCJ, how did they do it? Do you remember?
