Shoulder Injuries

[This_riveriswild]

Possibly quite a common thread title. Long story short thrown from bolting horse. dislocated shoulder, fracture to greater tuberosity (top of humerus) and torn labrum. Trip to the consultant where we did the typical doctor / rider dance of when can I safely get back on. He’s recommending three months from original injury (I’ve already been off games for five weeks) but noted everyone’s circumstances differ and is a bit suck it and see in terms of timeframes.

I think the key issue is the complete lack of strength I have in the arm atm and currently any odd / wrong movement leaves me in significant pain. If I were younger I might force the issue but as I get older I find Im less willing to - only have one body and one right shoulder after all, plus my work are getting increasingly unsympathetic about horse related injuries.

so Just looking for anyone’s experience of a similar injury and how long it took to feel right.

 

[Billyandme]

Oh dear. Shoulder injuries are so painful but for best advice please listen to your Consultant. Over 30 years ago I popped the cromio clavicular joint in my left shoulder after a nasty fall. I rested it for 6 weeks but then carried on as usual. Manny falls later and 30 years of horse ownership I am having intra articular injections next week to both shoulders as both shoulders are showing severe degenerative changes. The pain I get is ddeadful so please listen to your Consultant and rest. Good luck..

 

[Trouper]

If you haven't already - please invest in a good Physio. Correct healing and movement of the soft tissue is just as important as the bone healing and has a far longer impact if it does not heal correctly. Some parts you may need to keep resting but some parts may need to do some gentle movement and only a physio can advise on that. My go-to place for gentle work is the pool because of the way it supports the weight - but only when the physio has given the go-ahead!!

I hope you start to feel much better soon.

 

[AnShanDan]

I dislocated my shoulder last November, the 23rd I think, not that I'm counting

It has been a long slog getting it better. I had a lot of physio back at the beginning of this year, which was torture at the time but def. did help. I also got stretching exercises to do which I did religiously.

I actually rode right away almost but I didn't have any fractures and riding was OK because you don't have to lift your arm. I couldn't tack up myself for months. As you say it is the weakness that is the issue.

Now that I have got 90% of the mobility back I am using 2.5kg weights to do shoulder strengthening exercises. I would go swimming if that was an easy option.

Not much help to you really but I think time and keeping at the rehab is the key.

 

[Fransurrey]

I tore my rotator cuff many years ago, so not as bad as yours, but soft tissue heals slower than bone. It took months to heal. At least 6 before I had any meaningful strength. I couldn't lift my arm unaided, never mind tack up. Assuming you're already having physio, I would complement that with swimming and later yoga. Sorry to say you will have to work through some pain if you want to regain all the mobility, but do listen to the consultant. Now you've dislocated it once, it will be more prone to dislocation (and more so if it dislocates during healing), so take extra care!

 

[scruffyponies]

Currently nursing a dodgy left shoulder. It's no fun, particularly getting undressed. I suspect rotator cuff or bursa from handling and (struggling) mounting a wayward pony a couple of weeks ago. It seems to have got worse over the last week, but not sure it's worth going to a doctor to be told to take ibuprofen and rest.
6 months you say FS? Damn.

 

[oldie48]

What a horrible injury! OH and I have both had rotator cuff injuries, his was much worse than mine and saw a surgeon privately, who was prepared to operate but couldn't guarantee it would be successful. OH doesn't make a fuss about anything, so I knew he was really suffering. He decided to go to a good physio before opting for the knife and I am pleased to say he now has complete use of his shoulder which is why I'd second seeing a really good physio as part of your recovery. These injuries do take ages to heal but a good physio can make a huge difference. Needless to say, I didn't have physio and I don't have full use of my shoulder!!!! Good luck I hope you make a complete recovery.

 

[Meredith]

I remeber the agony when I hurt my shoulder so I fully sympathise. I had referred pain too so I hurt all down my arm.

I chipped the top of my radius. The chip, only as big as a fingernail, lodged under the end of my collar bone. I could not lift my arm at the shoulder at all. I had to pick the useless arm up with the other hand to move it.
I had months of weekly physio visits and had to do hundreds of exercises daily. At one time I was doing 8 exercises of 10 movements 10 times each day. It seemed as if that was all I could do. The exercises used stretchy bands, poles, pulleys and small weights.

My physio expected my movement to be upward lift of my arm 45 degrees. I have complete movement except I make a wonky circle if I swing my arm right round.
The piece of bone is still there somewhere.

See a physio asap and follow the instructions religiously.
Best of luck

 

[palo1]

Please be careful! I have 'done' both shoulders - both were serious and potentially life changing injuries. The first was a fall from a horse where I broke the shoulder in the joint and elbow - the damage to the rotator cuff was very significant as was potential damage to nerves etc. There was even some talk of amputation due to the amount of damage done. No surgery needed but off work for 5 months, utterly helpless for weeks and torturous physio required. Not fun but I was told to wait until physio started and then work through the pain to do what I was told. That worked and I regained almost complete functionality though I haven't got a full range of motion in the shoulder.

The other shoulder I did falling off a ladder, along with my arm and some ribs. I was lucky I didn't break my neck but again a potentially life changing injury. This one required surgery with pins and plates in my arm. (many pins and plates) I was promised that it would be 'impossible' to break that arm again due to the amount of high quality metal involved!! The surgeon told me that it was likely I would be quite disabled, even with surgery. Again, very painful, totally helpless and rather worrying. But I followed the advice to wait until I could access physio and then worked my socks off, often in tears, to achieve the maximum functionality I could get. That arm is also pretty functional though I have no hope of reaching down behind my neck to hold the other hand behind my back lol!!

Rest your arm/shoulder when you are told to and do everything that even the most brutal physio instructs. It is quite difficult to regain full motion as the joint and muscles are complex but with hard work and determination you will get a good outcome. Look after yourself as you would your horse.

 

[MrsMurs]

hi there,
I have had 2 shoulder injuries. A crush injury to left shoulder and torn rotator to the right, both caused significant pain and both ended up frozen and needing physio. The rotator injury would put me on the floor with pain if I got pulled in the wrong direction and took slightly longer to mend than the crush.

for me it took approx 2 years to truly mend but both still grumble from time to time.

eta. I struggled with the rotator injury for months before admitting it was getting worse. So definitely seek help sooner rather than later to speed up recovery.

wish you well in your recovery. A good physio is worth their weight in gold.
X

 

[This_riveriswild]

Thank you so much everyone for your responses. It’s good to know things get better, I have an excellent physio who I started seeing almost immediately after the injury. It’s just the limitation on life that got me down a bit last week however I have to remind myself that things could have been a lot worse!