Ow ow ow ow that really smarts. Why does it take so long to get sorted getting very bored with it now.

Been there, done that – both arms, one twice! Now getting over ASD and AC joint excision, just back to proper work and operation done early December!

If its not a surgery job and you haven’t already go and see a good sports physio then:

DO. THE. PHYSIO EXERCISES.

I was lax with doing mine properly and years down the line I still have trouble with both.

Echo the above – only now is mine sorted after 2yrs+

Double echo the above.

Lost probably >40% mobility in my shoulder from just ignorning exercises and physio and assuming it would magically mend itself. Get stretching ASAP!

Done both my shoulders. Both now f*cked as I didn’t do any exercises post dislocations. Wish I’d realised at the time 🙁

I feel your pain. Literally! I did mine at the end of november. I have been reliably informed that I become a right grumpy sod when I’ve been off the bike for 2 months.

Echo what everyone said above. What medication have they given you? Are you on painkillers as well as the anti-inflamatories? I was in agony trying to move it, so I went to the docs and got the kind of painkillers that could fell an elephant. This makes doing your physio, and keeping it moving, miles easier. If this is what you nee to do, then do it!

I got checked out by the physic a month ago, and I’ve got full mobility back, and they’re confident theres no lasting damage. It feels fine.

KEEP IT MOVING!!!

Cheers for the replies, having physio which consists of lots of kneeding of painful area and then ultra sound. I have full movement with out pain 80% of the time and it doesnt make awful crunching noises when I raise my arm above my head. Swimming front crawl is a no no and that is the bit that is really making me miserable.

Yup shoulder-charging a tree is not a good idea. I did it years ago prob 2003 and although it’s not intrusive now there are certain combinations of reach and angle (like lifting a pint glass at arms length) when it kind of weakens. Very strange sensation

Done both, right – knocked off by a loose dog; left twice – tree-barging, second time face braking on the upslope of the second of a set of doubles.

The right took circa 6 months before it was fully recovered, first few months had physio doing manipulation and acupuncture, then discharged and told to keep exercising/stretching, although this last few months wasn’t too bad.

The left, first time was fairly minor, minimal intervention and recovered within a couple of months. Second time was dislocated shoulder and quite serious, physio for 3 months, couple of months of rehab PT to start rebuilding strength in the joint as a whole, got back in to lots of swimming – breaststroke – that I’ve now carried on with as it’s good for maintaining the mobility of my shoulder, although front crawl’s still a bit sore 7 months after the accident.

Depending on how bad it is/was, be prepared for it to take some time to really settle down and and normal service to be resumed. Find a good physio, possibly one who can do acupuncture – really helped me – and DO THE EXERCISES/STRETCHES!

exercises, stretches, do them religiously

there’s next to no blood supply to the cuff so healing takes ages

I did mine 10 years ago and still today couldn’t do a single chin up without causing severe shoulder pain for days afterwards. Even just hanging by my arms on monkey bars is a no no.

On the plus side, at leasy I can sleep on that shoulder now. Couldn’t do that for about 6 years. It’s a good job that changed since I then promptly broke my other shoulder skiing last year and now still can’t sleep on that one!!

I had a mountain bike fall into a tree which led to a rotator cuff problem.

Was having work on it with a physio and a personal trainer and getting nowhere – and then I had a fall skiing and my arm went above my head and made it even worse 🙁

More work on it (stretching/bands/etc) and it wasn’t getting any better but then I went to the Maldives and took my exercise kit/swiss ball.

Still getting nowhere I decided to try and swim around the island – using no leg action and an extended breaststroke action which brought my hands back to meeting at the bottom of the stoke.

Only managed 50 minutes swimming like that but the next morning I woke up with my arm above my head on the bed whereas before raising my arm over shoulder height was incredibly painful.

So I then carried on with more swimming (1.5 hours round the island in the same manner) and came home with a fixed arm in decent shape and balanced against the good arm.

Since then I have broken my collar bone and also nearly broken my collarbone again, and both times cleared up any issues with swimming around an island in the same manner, coming back with both shoulders being in pretty good shape.

Swimming with your head level as you have your snorkel on is much easier, as I am not a particularly string swimmer (but fins make up for that in case you get tired and need to find the next coral channel in order to get back to the island).

The first island was Biyadhoo, which is 3 star(ish) and the accommodation is reasonably basic, but the house reef is good and makes the 1.5 hour swim around it entertaining (I have my camera hooked on my swim shorts just in case). I do the swim every other day over 2 weeks.

Last time I went to Vilamendhoo which is a bit better and has a slightly better house reef.

Biyadhoo was about £1800 each and Vilamendhoo was about £2400 each. As that was all inclusive it doesn’t work out that bad compared to some other holidays and considering how it fixed up my arm it was well worth it.

This year is Athuruga 🙂

Whilst not at the island I have been using a macebell and doing the 360s exercise and this also seems a useful way to keep the shoulders in shape. Indian clubs is another but I haven’t tried that yet.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ReMY_xI8TU&index=7&list=FLDvuJ8FNiH2DwBxExVatdWA[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRxEmMDxS7E&list=FLDvuJ8FNiH2DwBxExVatdWA&index=30[/video]

+1 for the swimming making a huge difference. This time round, with the dislocated shoulder thrown in, I achieved better results in terms of pain reduction, increase in flexibility and range of motion from 2 40 minute sessions of breaststroke than 2 months of physio.

That’s not to say the physio didn’t know what he was doing, it was the severity of the injury and that I didn’t have access to a pool initially but moved mid-rehab to a another barracks that has its own pool on-site so the new physio could incorporate swimming in to the rehab programme.

I had a surgical repair about 6-7 weeks ago including some bone removed to give the muscle space or something.

I am in constant pain with it now, its really uncomfy & seems to be worse now than a few weeks back, I am struggling to lift my arm & its actually getting worse instead of better. If I warm it up with some gentle moving & have some pain killers kicking in, the movement is pretty good at about 90% but it flipping well hurts doing it.

I have not exactly followed any advice, I work for myself, time off isn’t an option so I had 2 days off & I missed my physio so am now on the NHS Physio shit list, but that said I sit at a desk & I have been doing only gentle movements with it (mostly).

Can anyone give me hope that this is normal & its going to get bet better?

Or have I borked it?

I suspect both mine will need doing at some point. Colleague just had one done and it took 6 months recovery, it’s put him off getting the other done.
For those who are healing slowly there are meds around to assist with this if your Dr will prescribe them….you need growth hormone, growth hormone releasing peptides and IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor), these compounds speed healing times massively but are underused. Most Docs know about growth hormone but only ever use it for small children which is a shame when it works brilliantly in injury rehab!

Well mine is about 50% better, no real pain just a dull ache. Still can’t do front crawl which depresses me. Growth hormone? never heard that before.

Did you have surgery Pigface?

tiny, I tore my rotator cuff a few years ago. I had six months of physio,weekly nhs shoulder club sessions, acupuncture, steroid injection (very very painful) and finally surgery in July 2010. They removed some bone during the op and made other repairs. The recovery was reasonably straightforward – painful for around 2-3 weeks then gradual return of mobility. I exercised gently from about 2-3 weeks post op. The shoulder is pretty good now but still not fully mobile (probably about 80% better).

Good luck with your recovery

rob81… 80% better after 4 years!!! I am regretting having it done at the moment.

I am about 300% in more pain than the trouble the tear itself was giving me.

My concern is I have broken the repair, going to try & get back to see surgeon a bit earlier.

I got a big race in September (MX) I need to be getting my training & riding in right now & I don’t think I could even load the bike up, let alone race it.

Tinsy no, not had surgery.

If it aint bad don’t bother… I will report back if mine improves.

Have you had Cortizone injections?

Swim!
I had a posterior dislocation which was out for a few hours. I did the physio for a few weeks then got back in the pool. Twice a week, 100% front crawl with a few pull bouy sets (I am a swimmer).
9 months later I have no issues.
There’s quite a bit of bull out there about resting, staying of the bike etc, but my physio said you can’t make it any worse so just do what feels comfortable.
Good luck.

Just physio for me, he used the ultra sound thing a bit of poking and prodding and talked about his girlfriend. I will say mine is slowly healing but slowly is the word.

Dunno why everyone is talking about dislocations, I guess you could tear the muscle if you dislocate it, but I didnt dislocate mine.

I felt & heard mine tear, was just picking up an awkward & heavy thing & it tore. (still took months for official diagnosis though)

Pigface, you will dig this from other threads on here I know this is your bag. I really need to heal up now so I can go riding.

I was over in Valkenswaard on the weekend watching the GP 😆 great weekend. Are you going to be at Farleigh on the RM?

Yep got an entry for the pre 83 125’s at the VMXDN…. I need to heal up a lot before then though.

You going?

I will be in the States on my hols, good luck though and keep us informed of how you get on.

Crashed about 5 weeks ago. Shoulder is still sore with weakness at certain angles and extensions. Physio has given me exercises to do, which I’m trying to stick to. Taking ages though compared to all other injuries that fixed in a week or so.

Mountain bike felt like it was giving it a hard time too, so mostly swapped to the road bike for the last few weeks.

Swim!

And what if the RC problem was caused by a hooked acromion?

Still recommending swimming?

hooked acromion? Whats that?

I had some bone stuff done in the surgery…. if that helps..

Been onto the hospital today, expressed my concern that it feels worse instead of better on a daily basis & they are going to call me back.

hooked acromion? Whats that?

Poorly formed shoulder bone. Pics and whatnot: link

If you had some bone removed, you might have had a shoulder bone shaped in this way, which has now been cut away to prevent further injury on the RC.

(I’m not a doctor, etc.)

Yes, then that’s what the bone part of my opp was, it creates space for the bursa & other bits n bobs.

NHS staff nurse just rang me back, said it sounds like I may be overdoing it & to rest it again until my appointment next week. I think I lobbed the sling away weeks ago!!!

OK, an update, been back to hospital, it seems pain is normal even this late on, I have a few exercises to do, & they was quite happy with the movement in it.

Since last week I have been liberally slapping anti inflammatory cream on it, & the pain has eased off a lot, it still hurts but its back to manageable.

Swimming is OK, but not the front crawl just yet.

7 weeks into recovery & I have lost a lot of muscle despite actually using the arm as normally as I have been able too.

Its a long flipping job.