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JasonK
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Shoulder Injury
02/13/19 at 2:13pm
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I fractured my shoulder a couple weeks ago while skiing so I haven't been able to ride.  But I plan on hitting up some tame trails in the next couple weeks as soon as I get the OK from the doctor.  My question for anyone that has dealt with this, torn rotator cuff ... did you buy any kind of brace that helped with support and comfort?  I know that there are sites that sell stuff like this geared towards people that ride dirt bikes and ATVs.  Any feedback is appreciated.  Bummed about the injury but at least it wasn't more serious or happened in the summer.
  
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JokerSC
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #1 - 02/13/19 at 3:41pm
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Sorry to hear about your shoulder.

Both my shoulders are damaged goods. The right shoulder is the worse one, it has 2 nd degree separation and noticable "drop". .

When I initially injured it after letting it sit for 2-3 months, I did wear a brace for the next 6 months while riding or xc skiing. This was 15 years ago, so I dont remember the bramd of brace of anything. 

I think it helped, especially with confidence. I havent needed it since, although the should is still kind of wonky. 

I hope that helps somehow. Good luck!
  
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RideMFRide
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #2 - 02/13/19 at 4:04pm
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Careful with braces. Pain is the bodies way of telling you it's had enough. Often times braces can make things weak as they are nothing more than a bandaid. I've had several shoulder and other injuries from many different activities. The best thing for any injury is exercise. I'd recommend getting some strength exercises from your doctor.
  
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traildog
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #3 - 02/13/19 at 4:12pm
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No brace used here.  Once the Dr gave me the go ahead, I just rode easy and built it back up slowly.  Its good as new now, full range of motion and best of all, no pain.  PT helped a lot getting rid of soreness and range of motion back.
  
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #4 - 02/13/19 at 4:34pm
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Thanks for the replies.  I am planning some PT but had wondered if short term use of a brace could offer some help as I start to build my strength back up.  I can raise my arm up in front of me to about chest level before it starts to get uncomfortable so I am getting some range of motion back.  Praying that there is no real muscle damage that would require surgery - maybe just some small tears if that.  I would think if I had a serious muscle tear it would be pretty obvious in terms of pain?  I've been lucky enough to not have an injury like this until now so I'm just guessing at what I will hear next from the Dr.  So far I have just had a couple XRays and I have a follow up in a couple weeks.
  
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traildog
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #5 - 02/13/19 at 7:05pm
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My rotator did require surgery to repair.  I had separated my right shoulder years before and had torn my rotator then also.  It wasn't discovered right away and by the time I got it diagnosed properly, it was too late to repair.  When I tore my left rotator, I immediately went for help.  Dr. Weeks at OrthoCarolina fixed me up.  Right shoulder works, but weak and pops.  Doesn't bother me riding though.
  
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sager
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #6 - 02/13/19 at 7:43pm
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I've hurt both my shoulders also and it's not so bad on the bike for me.  The issue is more off the bike.  raising your hands above your head for even simple things like washing your hair can be uncomfortable.  The bigger issue is how long shoulders take to heal.  Mine are both 1-2 years "healed" and I still have lingering pain.  Shoulders don't heal quickly.  The don't prevent me from doing much.  I've recently started doing pushups, which hurt a little, but are bearable.
  
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Enoch
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #7 - 02/13/19 at 9:19pm
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Both of mine are jacked up. When I roll around in bed at night it sounds like somebody tearing a piece of fabric. I if go to the gym once a week and do all the push/ pull machines,   the noises go away after about 3 weeks. My biggest issue is when I fall on the mtb, It always aggravates it again. So the weakness returns for a while.

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Do what you like. Stop hating people for their riding habits and get back to hating them for their skin color, religion, politics, and sexual orientation.
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #8 - 02/13/19 at 9:41pm
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Sounds like a pain - sorry to hear that.  I fractured that round part of the bone pictured (humeral head).  Just one almost vertical line going down the center of that bone.  It hurt like hell when it happened but honestly after that I have been pretty lucky.  I am comfortable sleeping and no real pain or discomfort unless I move my arm beyond a certain threshold.
  
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #9 - 02/13/19 at 9:46pm
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traildog wrote on 02/13/19 at 7:05pm:
My rotator did require surgery to repair.  I had separated my right shoulder years before and had torn my rotator then also.  It wasn't discovered right away and by the time I got it diagnosed properly, it was too late to repair.  When I tore my left rotator, I immediately went for help.  Dr. Weeks at OrthoCarolina fixed me up.  Right shoulder works, but weak and pops.  Doesn't bother me riding though.



This is my fear - that I discover after the bone has healed that I have a tear that will require surgery and I waited too long to get in there.  But the Orthopedist basically told me that even if there was a tear that required surgery they couldn't do anything until the bone healed so...
  
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BigBikeMike
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #10 - 02/14/19 at 12:56am
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I work and live at Snowshoe and we see a lot of shoulder injuries. I hope you weren't up here skiing!?

BBM
  
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Ridefour15
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #11 - 02/14/19 at 1:28am
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I had a bad shoulder injury after getting hit by a car a few years ago.  I did a few weeks of PT, and slowly eased back into riding on the road bike first, and didn't get back on the mountain bike until the physical therapist gave me the OK (I think it was about three months).  I actually crashed my first trail ride back and landed on the same shoulder and the pain was incredible.

Despite the PT, it was probably close to a year before the shoulder felt 100% and that was without any breaks or tears.  Nearly six years later my left shoulder still feels tighter than my right, too, and takes a lot more warming up whenever I need to do anything with my upper body (such as when I was playing softball with people from work).

Long story short, don't push yourself and make sure to do some PT.  If your shoulder doesn't heal and rehabilitate correctly you might be stuck with remnants of that injury for good.
« Last Edit: 02/14/19 at 1:29am by Ridefour15 »  
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #12 - 02/14/19 at 2:14pm
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BigBikeMike wrote on 02/14/19 at 12:56am:
I work and live at Snowshoe and we see a lot of shoulder injuries. I hope you weren't up here skiing!?

BBM



I was indeed!  We actually took a shuttle over to Silver Creek to try that out at the end of the day and that's when I ate it.
  
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #13 - 02/14/19 at 2:22pm
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Ridefour15 wrote on 02/14/19 at 1:28am:
I had a bad shoulder injury after getting hit by a car a few years ago.  I did a few weeks of PT, and slowly eased back into riding on the road bike first, and didn't get back on the mountain bike until the physical therapist gave me the OK (I think it was about three months).  I actually crashed my first trail ride back and landed on the same shoulder and the pain was incredible.

Despite the PT, it was probably close to a year before the shoulder felt 100% and that was without any breaks or tears.  Nearly six years later my left shoulder still feels tighter than my right, too, and takes a lot more warming up whenever I need to do anything with my upper body (such as when I was playing softball with people from work).

Long story short, don't push yourself and make sure to do some PT.  If your shoulder doesn't heal and rehabilitate correctly you might be stuck with remnants of that injury for good.



Yeah this is what I am hearing mostly... slow to heal and is a pain in the butt.  I am prepared for an uphill ride getting back to normal but I'm staying optimistic that somehow my injury wasn't that bad.  Getting old sucks though.  I know that if I was 20 I would have probably got back up and been skiing the next day.

What kind of injury did you have? 
« Last Edit: 02/14/19 at 2:22pm by »  
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #14 - 02/15/19 at 2:02pm
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Shattered my upper humerus into the humeral head and have a Level 2 separation on same shoulder.  Have a big plate with a dozen screws in the bone now.  Joint/rotator is super crunchy and jacked.  Can't raise my arm totally vertical.  Did physical therapy until my arm could move as far as possible, then when I got back on the bike, I went single speed and removed the suspension fork.  The push/pull on the shoulder really helps, and the impact from the rigid fork helped a couple of things.  1) It improved the shoulder strength because it forced me to work the front wheel a lot more, and 2) it made me a better rider because I could actually feel the trail without it being damped by the suspension fork, I had to float above the pedals a lot more, and choose better lines.
  
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JasonK
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #15 - 02/15/19 at 8:28pm
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FourMat wrote on 02/15/19 at 2:02pm:
Shattered my upper humerus into the humeral head and have a Level 2 separation on same shoulder.  Have a big plate with a dozen screws in the bone now.  Joint/rotator is super crunchy and jacked.  Can't raise my arm totally vertical.  Did physical therapy until my arm could move as far as possible, then when I got back on the bike, I went single speed and removed the suspension fork.  The push/pull on the shoulder really helps, and the impact from the rigid fork helped a couple of things.  1) It improved the shoulder strength because it forced me to work the front wheel a lot more, and 2) it made me a better rider because I could actually feel the trail without it being damped by the suspension fork, I had to float above the pedals a lot more, and choose better lines.



I had a feeling the best way to deal with a serious shoulder injury would be to jump on a rigid singlespeed!
  
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Ridefour15
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Re: Shoulder Injury
Reply #16 - 02/16/19 at 10:35pm
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Quote:



Yeah this is what I am hearing mostly... slow to heal and is a pain in the butt.  I am prepared for an uphill ride getting back to normal but I'm staying optimistic that somehow my injury wasn't that bad.  Getting old sucks though.  I know that if I was 20 I would have probably got back up and been skiing the next day.

What kind of injury did you have? 


If I remember correctly the main injury was a rotator cuff contusion, and there were some other details that are evading me at the moment.  From my understanding, instead of my arm doing the normal "ball and socket" type movement that your shoulder is supposed to do my arm kept trying to roll out of the socket at my shoulder instead.  For a few days I couldn't even lift my left arm more than a few inches away from my side without intense pain, although it did get better (especially after PT).

A car cut me off to pull into a parking lot and I slammed into the passenger side door at around 20-22mph, so it's amazing my injury really wasn't worse.
« Last Edit: 02/16/19 at 10:36pm by Ridefour15 »  
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