Quote:
Originally Posted by jyl
Okay, here is one for the docs.
I crashed my bike (bicycle) on Monday. Riding to work, a block from my house, took a freshly paved corner and didn't see the sand that the construction crew had carefully spread on the surface. Front wheel washed out and I went down hard on my right side and slid. Couldn't get up right away, eventually unbuckled my backpack, pushed the bike off me, got on my hands and knees and slowly stood up. Bloody rashes on right calf, hip, waist, ribcage, forearm, upper arm/side of shoulder; gloves torn up; sand in my kit, wounds, backpack; right shoulder hurt and was hard to move right arm or lift with right hand. But nothing seemed broken.
My experience in these things is that unless something is broken, you have to get back on the bike and keep riding. Otherwise you stiffen up and soon can't move. So I got back on the bike and rode (slowly) to work and home that afternoon (26 miles).
Its five days later, and the rashes are healing, but my right shoulder still hurts. I have full range of shoulder motion, although some of it is a bit painful. I can lift light things with that arm. I have been feeling the clavicle as I move my arm, and nothing seems to be disconnected or moving around in there. I've ridden to work twice more and this morning did about 10 miles with some slow climbing and descending. I can ride normally, including out of the saddle.
The only thing that bugs me is a 1 inch area on the upper surface of my shoulder, just inboard of the joint, that is painful to pressure and where I feel a subtle lump.
My sense is that this is all normal and at worst I have a bit of a hairline fracture or something, so I should just keep on doing what I'm doing and not worry about it.
Make sense?
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That sounds like a separated shoulder, I got the same when I crashed hard last year,
See a bone doc for diagnosis, there are degrees of this injury. What happens is that one or more of the ligaments that connect the clavicle to the shoulder blade have snapped. The outer end of the clavicle pops up(the lump), 1st degree is when on ligament is gone 2nd degree 2(this is what I have) 3rd you are in a lot of trouble. The pain is a bone end grinding the wrong spot on the socket.
Things to do;
There are exercises that I learned in PT sessions and continue to do, aim is mostly to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles to pull the joint back into the socket, also some stretching again aim is to pull the shoulder back. The natural proclivity is for the shoulder to roll forward in a slouch.
The ligaments can't be repaired according to my Osteopath, if the strengthening doesn't work he said that he can grind the end of of the bone down to provide more clearance, guaranteed to work.