Serious shoulder questions for BC skiers, and my own labrum WTF thread

[Chainsaw_Willie]

My shoulder has continued to dislocate - am seeing a doc about it next week. Last two dislocations have been posterior, previous ones were all anterior. MRI in Jan '12 confirmed anterior tear of Labrum, now I'm wondering if I don't have a posterior tear as well.

It seems to me if they can reattach the labrum that would be the thing to do along with PT/strengthening...?

[Orthoski]

My shoulder has continued to dislocate - am seeing a doc about it next week. Last two dislocations have been posterior, previous ones were all anterior. MRI in Jan '12 confirmed anterior tear of Labrum, now I'm wondering if I don't have a posterior tear as well.

It seems to me if they can reattach the labrum that would be the thing to do along with PT/strengthening...?

It's not that common to have BOTH anterior and posterior dislocations (and most are anterior to begin with). The aforementioned MRI from January didn't show anything in the posterior region of the shoulder (and was done with contrast injected into your joint)? Do you happen to be double jointed, etc, that would suggest lax ligaments? As a note, while the labrum is a cartilage rim that deepens the shoulder socket, it's certain ligaments tearing that underlie repeat dislocations. So when trying to prevent future shoulder dislocations, the surgeon will repair the labrum but also tighten the ligaments that attach to the labrum and are responsible for holding the shoulder in joint during certain positions of motion (for most dislocations, which are anterior, this is with your shoulder elevated 90 degrees and your hand back, as though you were throwing a baseball). If you have some damage to the back of the shoulder, it's a little more technically difficult but still very possible to repair those as well. Just not that common to have dislocations in both directions unless you're ligamentously lax (which can make successful treatment more difficult) or have had some real severe injury to the shoulder. Best of luck and keep us posted.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

Orthoski - thanks for your input! According to the doc the previous MRI only indicated anterior tear. MRI was done with contrast injection.

Have no idea whether my ligaments are lax. I don't think I'm "double jointed" but don't really know what that means. I have dislocated my left thumb a couple of times, but given that I work in construction that's probably not all that unusual.

If ligaments are torn, how do you tighten them? I'd guess I probably have a torn ligament or two in my shoulder but the last doc never mentioned that. I'll be seeing two new docs next week so will be sure to question them about this stuff.

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated!

[Chainsaw_Willie]

First appointment with a doc who gets what it means to be a middle-aged weekend athlete.

He showed me how to interpret the MRI of my knee. ACL blown but no evidence of meniscus damage. That's the good news.

When he looked at the MRI of my shoulder he got real quiet and kept scrolling back and forth between several "layers." Then he said that it appears my problem isn't so much that my labrum is torn as that it's simply gone. Said he wanted me to see his partner who specializes in shoulders and that I was going to need more than just a staple-the-labrum-back-together type of procedure. Yippee.

[SchralphMacchio]

Bump!

Finally doing the arthro Bankart later today, about 7 years later after my first dislocation!

In 2012 and 2013 I basically just stopped climbing, save for random trips focusing on mellow climbing. No surgery, just rehab. Got way into MTB and felt mostly good. I did regular exercises and eventually the pain went away. I felt good but I popped it out fully in 2016, 5 years after the initial accident, doing a random fast twitch maneuver and I was able to reduce it immediately with a buddy’s help. Recovery from that was immediate and I still felt good enough to ski, board, MTB etc. But in November 2018 I slipped on ice and hit the concrete so hard it blew out my shoulder and gave me an awful concussion. Couldn’t self reduce and the circulation sensation and motion impacts were way worse that the previous ones. Had to get it reduced in the ER. Did numerous weeks of PT but could tell it was much worse than original dislocation in 2011. Hurts if I hold my 6 week old 12 lbs. daughter for too long.

Willie, did you ever go under the knife for yours?

Wish me luck! Actually, wish my wife luck because I won’t be doing diaper changes or picking up my girl to settle her for the next 6 weeks ... and she pees like 20x per day ...

[mcski]

Good luck. No surgery exeperience, but a buddy that is a frequent flyer always recommends getting one of those recirculating ice packs if possible. Said it really helped keep inflammation down during recovery and pt. And I only pee about half that much at night

[SchralphMacchio]

So far so good, doc said it went well and that my shoulder was in pretty bad shape so the knife was well justified.

Just wanted to report that the most hilarious side affect of the nerve block was very unexpected. Normally when I am undergoing an unpleasant dental or medical procedure I daydream about powder skiing or powder snowboarding. But once the nerve block was in and I had limited sensation and little movement control in my left arm going into the surgery, I had a hard time dreaming about powder skiing before the operating room was ready, because I couldn’t actually feel or lift my arm, so I also couldn’t even visualize lifting it for pole planting et cetera! I was actually like, wtf, this sucks, I can’t even IMAGINE that I’m skiing!!!!

[splat]

Asked in the other should thread, Shralph - did they sew your labrum back together?

[SchralphMacchio]

Splat, I’ll add more details after my post op visit next week. Doc said shoulder was “pretty bad” so I’m curious if he did anything more than sewing the labrum back to shoulder socket. I’ll get the deets hopefully by end of the week.

Also will be easier to update when I have better texting capabilities hah!

Do you have decent insurance and cash reserves right now? Seems like you might need to find a doc and radiologist who can put a plan together for you ... some mags in the Tahoe thread and Jim and Len probably have some good contacts for you ...

[splat]

I'm about to schedule with an ortho, mri in hand. I figured I'd ask you ahead of my visit. My regular doc has a bad shoulder from basketball and he kinda just glanced over my mri, then revisited it, and kinda said 'oh, wow'.

[SchralphMacchio]

Hey splat, I sent you a message via Facebook Messenger early this morning. If you don’t use that I can copy and paste to TGR PM ... I don’t have your email address.

[Jvhowube]

Should've looked for this thread earlier - I (first time) dislocated in June, had bankart repair in July. Feeling pretty solid right now - starting to aggressively weight train again, and can finally ski and mountain bike. Feel free to ask my any questions - I learned a lot about dislocations and shoulders through this whole experience.

[splat]

Schralph - I ended up repairing my torn labrum, r/c, lats, and splintered tendons with my dmso/cbd cream
Took a few months and now, a couple months further along, my knee is showing results.

[Ottime]

Just finding this thread as I dislocated my shoulder on Thanksgiving due to a fall. It self reduced as I was headed toward urgent care. Basically I was trying to find a position where I could sit up straight. A week later my ortho cleared me to ski and surf. So I surfed 4 days later and it came back out on my first text book take off as I pushed up to stand. This one was out for 1.5 hours before they got it back in at urgent care. Now waiting for PT and MRI to get scheduled.

On day 9 of it being back it. I skied with my kid last weekend. Cautiously.

Doc still wants me to wait on surgery. He is pretty nonchalant about it. I just know I do t want it coming out in the water again. That could have been much worse depending on where I was or in bigger surf.

How you feeling Alex?

[SchralphMacchio]

C, Call me when you have time. Don’t mess around with it. You may not need surgery due to being a few years older than me, but don’t push it until your MRI is in, and listen to your PT. Take Pt notes on your cell phone and do everything 5x per week. It’s possible your muscles are getting worse, not better, right now while you are unconsciously overcompensating and doing stuff to make your dud shoulder function.

I had to get a 2nd surgery 6 months after my initial repair, to free up scar tissue and bursa impingement. Treatment overall was extra slow going due to my car being managed under workers compensation (the injury occurred on a work travel trip). Finally a year after my injury I’m able to buckle my seatbelt with my left arm (grabbing it from behind me) and mountain bike ... skiing is okay too but poling off and XC skiing still makes me sore as hell.

I’ll post a longer more specific update after breakfast.