Had a crappy first day to a 3 day Wales tour when my front tube blew resulting in a really heavy OTB and a dislocated shoulder. It was my first (and hopefully last) time ambulanced off the trails, but it was a stunningly painful injury until it got poped back in. I’m now sitting at home wondering how long I’m not riding for. Doctor said no sport for 6 weeks.

I dislocated my shoulder (hurts a good bit doesn’t it) and I was back playing sport with in a month easy. However I was 11 at the time and think at 43, 6 weeks would be a low estimate for me now.

at least it’s not sunny out, oh wait…..(sorry)

Good luck mate.

It was six weeks for me before the physio started and I wasn’t supposed to be driving either. I did manage to take chunks of bone off both the ball & socket though so I suppose that’s a standard wait after a break.

I did mine in the May and I did some nervous Peaks riding in that autumn.

Don’t let your arm sieze up, do all the physio and top-up the tan.

Cheers guys, mine was pretty straight forwards. Minor fracture where tendons damaged it, but it all went back into place ok. Keeping my fingers crossed and cider chilled 🙂

To some extent it’s luck of the draw… I did mine at the end of April and have since discovered that I’ve detached a tendon in the process, which means I’m waiting on an op to staple the tendon back in place.

Best case is 4-6 weeks til you’re back at it.

Hey,

I have dislocated my shoulder twice now and after each I was probably back on the bike, taking it easy within a couple weeks.
However like in the post above, I tore my labrum, so had to have it reattached surgically. After this it took about 2 months recovery, with a load of physiotherapy and gym work, before I could ride outside again. (A turbotrainer is you friend here)

The instant relief when they get the shoulder back in its socket is incredible isn’t it!!

The instant relief when they get the shoulder back in its socket is incredible isn’t it!!

Don’t ask me, I was away with the fairies!

The instant relief when they get the shoulder back in its socket is incredible isn’t it!!

I just leant against a tree and popped it back in lethal weapon style 8) … however, for obvious reasons, relief was not forthcoming… still hurts like a bastard now if I take it out of it’s limited range of motion.

They had to knock me out to reset mine too, was way to painful to do just with gas.
I was surprised how well I felt after a light dose of GA. I’ve only ever had it before for a major op and felt terrible for hours after coming around.

Anything from 4-12 weeks dependant on type of dislocation and a lot of other factors. I did mine 4 or 5 times, got a bankart repair done last year, and it now feels stronger and more stable than my other shoulder!.

Do what the physio tells you too.

Very dependent on damage as part of the dislocation. I regally used to do my shoulder and I could be back on the bike 2-3 days later if I got it back in quickly. ( I have a 1-2 minute window in which to use the bike as traction and dangle it off my dislocates shoulder!). If my shoulder has been out for hours then a week or so is the norm.

I dislocated my shoulder two years ago, back to work 6 weeks later still in a lot of pain, but found out 6 weeks after that I had twisted vertebrae at the same time that hadn’t been picked up, so not sure if it was the shoulder or back that was the problem. Took me 4 months to get back on the bike for a short ride, and a quite a bit longer after that before could go any distance, but suspect that was more the back than the shoulder. Still get pain when now and again when I’m either stressed or in one position too long, but a good run usually sorts that out.

It sounds like there’s a huge variation in the seriousness of dislocated shoulders and related recovery times. Fingers crossed I’ve been lucky as it’s feeling pretty good 48hrs after the accident, but I’ll see what the physio says.

I looked over my bike yesterday and it seems like a rock impacting the sidewall caused the tube to blow. Could have been so much worse if it happened on a fast section of trail as I was instantly OTB as the exposed rim caught on a rock on the trail. On the brightside my Stans Flow somehow survived and I’ve got a few weeks to perfect a tubeless setup.

I dislocated my left shoulder and split the bone in my arm at the same time.

NHS missed the bone damage at X ray time so when they identified this, the bone and thus tendon has re-set in the wrong place.

I was back on a bike within 6 weeks (against all medical advice), but rode very gentle stuff for a long time as any rock descents, jumps or anything with big impact or effort was difficult. Lots of little rides with a very gradual ramping up of severity of terrain got the strength back into my arm.

It’s taken a lot of very intense physiotherapy which hurt lots to get the tendons sorted out into the right place. It was three years before I could get full range of motion back into my shoulder. Pretty much did for my cricket career.

Long and short of it: Shoulders are difficult injuries to diagnose, treat and recover from.

about 20 years.

Just in case anyone finds this thread after a similar accident, I’ve been chatting a mate who heads up an NHS shoulder unit who told me that one of the reasons they advise complete rest for two weeks in a sling is to give the tendons a chance to shrink back down to their normal length after being stretched during dislocation. If they don’t get a chance to shrink back then re-dislocation problems are a much higher risk. Hopefully I can drag a deckchair out of the shed with my left arm 🙂

ooooh right arm dislocation….boredom beckons*

*unless you’re left handed.

Anterior dislocation.Reduced under general anaesthetic.Went dirt jumping 2 days afterwards (still aches 4 years later).

I dislocated my shoulder last night at Haldon and the docs popped it back in with me knocked out, plus a shot or two of morphine. I don’t feel too bad now but my shoulder rotation is limited. I feel I could ride a bike gently now, but don’t want to make it worse.
I had the rarer posterior dislocation (all the staff at A&E came to see it!)
Thanks for the advice Carloz ^^^, my doc said don’t use a sling so the muscles don’t sieze, but I’ll wait and see what the physio says.
OP what’s been your experience so far?