AC Joint Separation

[Guest Michael N. Ruff]

Has anyone suffered a AC joint separation and has it hindered your return to EMS?

I fell while going after a fly ball in softball last thursday (I know Terri, I'm no longer 25) and fell directly on my shoulder.

DAMN that hurt

Went to the ER after 4 hours of serious painful suffering got diagnosed with a Grade 1 Separated shoulder. This is my left shoulder and I'm left handed

Still hurts, I can't lift my arm above my shoulder level. Cannot do much of anything except type and eat. Even wipin er never mind.

I'm in a sling and taking 800mg advil every 8 hours.

Here are my questions

1. If you have had this injury how long did it take you to get back to the way you were prior to the injury.

2. Do you notice your lifting power being less after the injury

3. How many days were you off work?

4. Did you require surgery and if so how long were you off?

Those are the initial questions I have.

I am seeing the Orthopedic surgeon tomorrow for a follow up visit both because I'm still hurting and second, my work won't let me bak to work until I get a doctors excuse.

thanks

[VentMedic]

Grade 2 for me over 25 years ago...ambulance wreck.

I avoided surgery but went through 6 weeks of very painful physical therapy at a sports clinic which was started soon after the injury to minimize freezing. As well my Ortho doctor specialized in sports medicine so he knew I needed my shoulder as bad as an athlete. I dispatched for about 3 months until I was cleared to lift but I did have ligament involvement.

In any exercise routine I have to concentrate on the shoulder for strength and to not do something stupid to create an injury to the rotator cuff. If you avoid surgery now, you may need it several years down the road as that shoulder will wear and tear easier unless you do get great advice on strengthening and maintaining the shoulder. My overall strength actually improved. I still have a Physical Therapist help with some serious stretching occasionally.

[Lone Star]

Vent,

One of the injuries I got in my motorcycle wreck a couple of years ago was a 6mm separation of the left AC joint. I wasn't able to afford to get it surgically repaired, and physical therapy did little more than keep it aggrivated. I would love to hear from you about the regemin that you're going through to strengthen your shoulders.

By the time I hit 65, I'll probably start looking like the bionic man.....lets just hope it doesn't cost me $6,000,000.00 to rebuild me!

Feel free to drop me a PM to discuss it.

LS

[FireMedic65]

This is what you get...

Gentleman, we have the technology... I just don't want to spend a lot of money..

[Lone Star]

Has anyone suffered a AC joint separation and has it hindered your return to EMS?

I fell while going after a fly ball in softball last thursday (I know Terri, I'm no longer 25) and fell directly on my shoulder.

DAMN that hurt

Went to the ER after 4 hours of serious painful suffering got diagnosed with a Grade 1 Separated shoulder. This is my left shoulder and I'm left handed

Still hurts, I can't lift my arm above my shoulder level. Cannot do much of anything except type and eat. Even wipin er never mind.

I'm in a sling and taking 800mg advil every 8 hours.

Here are my questions

1. If you have had this injury how long did it take you to get back to the way you were prior to the injury.

2. Do you notice your lifting power being less after the injury

3. How many days were you off work?

4. Did you require surgery and if so how long were you off?

Those are the initial questions I have.

I am seeing the Orthopedic surgeon tomorrow for a follow up visit both because I'm still hurting and second, my work won't let me bak to work until I get a doctors excuse.

thanks

I'm not sure of the 'grades', but in a motorcycle wreck (a 70 year old man decided to throw his car in front of me as I hit 3rd gear), I was diagnosed with a 6mm separation of the left AC joint (I'm left handed too). I was put on a 5 pound weight restriction, and it's still in place, primarilly because I ran out of money to keep seeing the ortho specialist.

I still have problems out of it, and right now, there's not much I can do.....aside from 400-600 mg ibuprophen q 6 hours, and alternating heat and cold for swelling.

I try to use it 'normally', but there are days......

Is your range of motion limited?

[scubanurse]

Since your shoulder is "only" a grade 1 tear, I would say rest it, do some PT and see how it feels. As the recipient of 4 major shoulder surgeries, I can tell you, they suck big time. They are one of the most painful too. I have had multiple AC joint injuries and most healed in time and were back to normal where I could work and even rock climb and kayak on them. Listen to the orthopedic surgeon though, but keep in mind most ortho's just want to cut to solve the problem so do not be afraid to look for a second opinion. Depending where geographically you are, I might have some good recommendations for ortho docs.

Best of luck to you and let me know if I can be any more help!

[Lone Star]

This is what you get...

Gentleman, we have the technology... I just don't want to spend a lot of money..

At least I'll still be able to do the yard work!

[Just Plain Ruff]

Ok, went to the ortho doc, he said no surgery nor MRI at this time.

He want's to do PT for 3-4 weeks and then re-evaluate.

He doesn't like to cut on shoulders with only a grade 1 separation.

so I bought a huge bottle of 500 advil's gonna take 800mg every 8 hours (I know when the 8 hours is up as it begins to hurt).

I'll do the PT and see what happens.

I'm off work for 2 more weeks minimum which sucks big time because I have no more PHO built up after the 3 shifts this week. I do get to go to pals class tomorrow and thursday.

Hopefully all will be well. I just hope that I heal as good as a 25 year old.

[island emt]

Ok, went to the ortho doc, he said no surgery nor MRI at this time.

He want's to do PT for 3-4 weeks and then re-evaluate.

He doesn't like to cut on shoulders with only a grade 1 separation.

so I bought a huge bottle of 500 advil's gonna take 800mg every 8 hours (I know when the 8 hours is up as it begins to hurt).

I'll do the PT and see what happens.

I'm off work for 2 more weeks minimum which sucks big time because I have no more PHO built up after the 3 shifts this week. I do get to go to pals class tomorrow and thursday.

Hopefully all will be well. I just hope that I heal as good as a 25 year old.

ruff: I destroyed my rt shoulder in 1985. I Took the less invasive steroids injections and physical therapy route for almost a year. [My doc was a sports medicine doc who was team doctor for a semi pro hockey team}

After the year I had 90% of my strength back , but a limited range of motion Reaching above shoulder height was very painful. I had to be careful not to have it pop back out again {did that twice... OUCH....}

I ended having two different surgeries to rebuild the joint and tighten up the ligaments.

You learn what your limits are and just get the job done + learn to live with the pain. Cold packs work wonders !

25 years later it is still holding up and the only real problems i have are calcium build up in the joint along with a little scar tissue thickening in the ac joint.

Don't baby it or your shoulder will stiffen up. Find a good ortho specialist that works on pitchers and quarterbacks. I had mine fixed by the Red sox pitchers shoulder surgeon..

[scubanurse]

I'd rather take 2 weeks off than up to 6 mo for surgery... I really hope PT does the trick for you! Let me know if I can be of any help and good luck!