I "gimpified" my shoulder last night

[steve]

make a long story short I did a head-first dive into home on astroturf yesterday and screwed up my shoulder. full story is at my website, if you care.

i am definitely the kind of guy who visits Dr. IgnoreItAndHopeItGoesAway, and I'm inclined to do it here, too. However, images of spanky's shoulder injury (which he videotaped) are relatively fresh in my memory - the fall didn't seem that bad, but it ended up requiring surgery. not good.

Well, here's the deal. There are no deformities or swelling. That's good.
I've had a lot of ice on it in the last twelve hours.
Also, I've not taken ibuprofin in about 10 hours, because I want to know what it feels like without pain killers:

In a rested state (at my side), I feel nothing. If I extend it between about 60° and 120° (forwards, backwards or sideways) it hurts like a bitch - BUT - if the arm is supported (if the muscle isn't actually doing the lifting) there is only minor discomfort. right now, for example, I'm typing, with my forearm resting on the desk. no pain. take the desk away but keep me in this same position, I get a respectable but not too bad "ouch." If I hold it out at 90° without moving it and without support, the pain is there but it's bearable. So it seems that it really hurts whenever I put the muscle that lifts my arm under a load.

Now the pain doesn't really have a central point. It feels deep (ie. not at the surface) but it's spread over a wide area, sometimes all the way to the inner elbow. It does seem to hurt more around the bicep & joint, but like I said, it's more of a dull throb where I can't exactly pinpoint the source of the pain.

This is my description of pain right now without painkillers. I've also not iced it in an hour or so.



ok so I really do love my dr ignoreit, and he normally treats me well. I don't want to give up my loyalty to him.. but maybe that's not the smart thing to do in this case?

[Theodore]

Minus the pain goin down the arm, it kinda sounds like an AC separation. Try a search on here, there are a few good threads with a lot of info. Doesn't sound right for a head first slide into home though... When I did mine it was my first(and last if I'm not obviously broken or bleeding out) and last trip to the ER. Just some minor therapy for ROM and getting the muscle back...

[steve]

I saw a popped A/C joint during my brief stint on ski patrol - the guy was in a lot more pain than I, and had a golf-ball sized deformity on the top of his shoulder.

I sure hope mine isn't a minor version of that.. I don't think so, and here's why: (update) the shoulder is much better. There is still pain when I raise my arm in certain ways, but not widespread like Saturday. It also is much more localized..
Me thinks it was just a strain. Thank god.

-steve

[spanky]

Steve,

Bummer to hear about the shoulder.

Is there an echo in this forum? You're only 2 weeks behind hose-man... http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...410#post804410

From my "educated" experience, it sounds like a rotator cuff and/or labrum injury. If so, the question is, "how severe?". My opinion is, the only way to find out is with an MRI. Most ortho's will want you to wait a few weeks before ordering the MRI. Problem with that is, time is of the essence if you want to be skiing this season (If you need surgery, you're looking at about 6 months of rehab before I'd trust it for any physical activity).

I can recommend two great shoulder docs in NYC if needed. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about it.

Edit: just saw your update in the above post. So maybe you don't need to see a doc. Either way, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.