pullings

4/22 update: Left arm's humerus is FRACTURED....I posted update at end of thread.
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Original post:

Last time I went down 2 years ago was because of hit/run incident with truck....this time it was totally my own stupid fault.

I have a question about recovery times for others who have experienced this type of dislocation injury.

I overshot right hand turn and went into 6-inch concrete separator between lanes on residential road.....flipped sideways over bike, reached out w/left arm to brace for fall and messed up shoulder, broke tooth, and lots of nice red road rash.

Shoulder partially dislocated (humerus ball slid half-way down to lower lip of socket and got stuck there....did not go all way down under the shoulder joint socket lip).

I was able to work it back into position within 10 seconds of getting up.

I went to Urgent Care for x-ray and meds.

Very lucky in that there is no symptoms/pain to suggest ligament damage or broken or compression fractures.

Painful inside joint when range of motion is 50% (I will not try anything more) of range of motion.

No pain 12 hours post-injury when arm rests in sling.

No pain when I press in against exterior soft tissue (ligaments, tendons, muscle) surrounding shoulder joint.

What kind of timeline am I looking at to get back to old self of biking 100 miles week and weight routine?

When I hyperextended elbow and grade-2 torn ligaments (no surgery!), split cartilage in joint, and had hinge compression fracture it took me over a year to get good stability and 80% strength back....3 years to point I feel fully healed.

For this shoulder injury having nothing broken or torn I am hoping that recovery should be much quicker? A week or two?? Risk of recurrence?

BobsPoprad

No clue as to recovery time.

But get better! Probably could have been worse.

TiHabanero

The first dislocated shoulder I incurred was in a bicycle wreck of my own doing riding an experimental trike. It was a full dislocation and took about 1.5 months to recover enough to ride a drop bar bike. I did ride very sparingly a mountain bike on the road with a seriously high rise stem to remove as much pressure on the shoulders as possible.
The second dislocation came in a skiing wreck. Simply lost control at high speed and went flying! That ripped out the other shoulder, but was only partial and it popped back in right away. Since it was winter this did not present a problem for riding. I did rest the shoulder for 4 weeks and was out skiing again. Wasn't comfortable, but doable.
The third and forth dislocations were alternating shoulders like last time, but once dislocated they easily popped back in. Both times were while skiing. The thing about dislocations is that every time it happens it makes the next dislocation easier to come by. The joint and all the junk around it gets weaker each time. Didn't bother with staple surgery as every person I talked to that had it done said it didn't work out very well.
My advice is to take it slow getting back on the bike. Rest heals the joint, and strength training will keep it in a managed state. It has been almost 40 years since the first incident and over this time I have regained almost full motion of both shoulders. Have to be careful and cognizant of range of motion limitations. The shoulder will let you know when you are reaching its limit of motion, and then it will simply pop out, but is easily popped back in.

Cornchips

I had a Grade II AC joint/shoulder separation back in March 2022. I was told 6-8 weeks to fully heal. I was in absolute agony for a lot longer than that, but turns out I didn't get an entirely accurate diagnosis as I also had a circumferential tear in the labrum. I could barely move my arm for a couple of days after, and couldn't sleep on my injured side for several months.

The good news in your case is that you have 50% motion and minimal pain, which hopefully suggests you're not in too bad of a spot and on the road to recovery. I would give it a month before doing any serious riding or weights. As I'm getting older I tend to err on the side of caution; not saying you can't get back to riding or lifting weights straight away, but why risk it? If you do too much you are at risk if re-injuring it and prolonging your recovery.

A year on I still have trouble with cross-body movements and most notably, a loss of strength. Hasn't stopped me riding too much though, although I'm not in a hurry to fall off any time soon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separated_shoulder

pullings

Thanks for the feedback all.
It looks like I'll leave the drop bar bike hanging on the wall for a month. Fortunately I already have a nice routine figured out for winter-riding using stationary bike at my fitness center. :-)

Polaris OBark

What did your allopathic physician say, and how does it compare to anecdotal internet experiences?

WaveyGravey

Did you get an MRI? X-rays won't reveal tears in ligaments/rotator cuff which would be a much longer recovery time.

pullings

Actually ancedotal info much more helpful than initial dr visit. X-Ray is negative.
Urgent-care physician said keep arm in a sling for a week, gave me a shot, and two prescriptions.
I'll monitor progress for a few days or so. I am leaning towards getting a referral for a specialist who can order an MRI....Internet research on my symptoms suggests rotator cuff tear.
I was hoping initial trauma discomfort/pain would subside however still pretty bad :-(

Leisesturm

Your age matters, of course! Emphasis, because age is not mentioned in the o.p. "A week or two" would be outrageously optimistic at my age (64). Maybe a 25 y.o. Even a 40 something is looking at 6+ months. Shoulders are really touchy. Hurt them bad and they don't forgive you easily. Good luck, but as I read your follow-up posts you are way too eager to get back to it. Take the time-out for what it is: a teachable moment. Reflect on it. Learn from it. The previous accident was not your fault. It could have, however, prevented this one. I'll get flamed for saying that, but this is too serious for me to care. Single track vehicles are inherently dangerous. Mistakes can be costly. I beat myself up worse than this over close calls so I don't have to regret the lasting injuries from a more serious trauma.

LarrySellerz

I partially tore something in my shoulder (I think, did not go to the doctor.) as you experienced the docs are clowns and won’t give you an MRI without an x-ray, go to a physical therapist as they might actually be able to help you.

I initially had limited range of motion (couldn’t raise it much higher than straight out.) and stayed off the bike until I could ride with no pain. Maybe a week or so. If it hurts it’s probably a bad idea.

do the physical therapy exercises.

jaxgtr

I dislocated mine when I slipped in my garage when I did not notice some water on the floor. Took me about 2 months total. I had a need for some pain killers for about 3 days, but after that I was ok as long as I did not jerk it around or move it rather quick. After about a week, I had an appt with a PT and he told me come back after 2 weeks and I started physical therapy after that, slow at first but he help me recover all my range of movement, did PT over 3 weeks, 3 times a week.

pullings

Thanks for sharing thoughts.
It's been two days and shoulder is unstable. My past experience (subluxated elboe resulting in ligament damage and compression fracture...it was bad...unlucky fall during easy hike on Mount Rainier) suggests long recovery.
Now I need to find sports medicine Dr who accepts Tricare and get an MRI. :-/

Robert7659

58 years old now, nasty fall and dislocated shoulder (and broken ribs and some sort of hip sprain) in 2019. Paralyzing pain all over for a week.

Very cautiously back on bike 2 weeks later along with progressive return to regular daily exercise routine (pushups, moderate weights, variety of stretchings), rapidly returned to normal with the days and weeks.

My shoulder is still dislocated, looks like muscle and ligaments keep it all together and functional enough.

KerryIrons

Do you mean "What did your doctor say?" Remember Thoreau: simplify, simplify, simplify.

Leisesturm

There is a time and place for that. This thread isn't it.

Polaris OBark

No, I meant exactly what I said.

Chiropractors, who are fond of the word "subluxation", are also sometimes called Dr. So am I. But neither are allopathic physicians.

redlude97

Age matters, but in a different way. Under age 30, the should tendons are not as stretched out and almost always results in the need for surgery. Over 30 and it gets to 50/50, and over 40 a bit better for subluxations. This is what my sports medicine doctor told me when I subluxed mine. If it was out for only 10 seconds that is good, it took me about 3 months to be back on the bike with PT and ~6 months back to rock climbing.

Pratt

You don't say where you are, but I would recommend calling the local professional sports team or big time college athletic department. Their orthopedists will be the best, and biased toward returning patients to activity.
Further said doc can prescribe a specific regimen of exercises , other than 'wait until it stops hurting', to lessen the likelihood of a repeat.

pullings

Visited with Orthopedic Surgeon shoulder specialist 3-weeks after accident.
X-Ray diagnosed as non-displaced humerus fracture of greater tuberosity.
Initial radiologist & ER doctor x-ray was negative....they missed it.
This is a 12-week healing process just to get to point I can start resistance training of atrophied upper body.
The good news is the passive exercises and sling use I was already doing since initial accident is pretty much the same as what I would have done if I had received correct diagnosis in first place.
Rehab going well, with passive range-of-motion shoulder exercises. No pain at all except if I lift arm from side (accidently reach up for stuff).
I see Dr again at again in 9 days. Hoping for a break (bone healing is progressing) and I get OK to start doing active/resistance rehab.
I took my first short bike ride last week.
Putting in 3 stationary bike workouts a week......I dial in 205-220 watts sustained resistance (HR between 120 and 125) and ride for 1.5 hours.

Pratt

First, I am not a doctor, second, I have never dislocated my shoulder, so you can be confident that I will give you neither expert nor anecdotal advice. However, if I were in your situation, I would contact the nearest professional sports team football, hockey, basketball, etc. and get the name of the orthopedist who looks after them. He will be top notch, and he will have a bias toward getting his patients back to adequate, if not full, function. That will include, similarly talented and oriented physical therapists to help with rehabilitation.
good luck.

pullings

12-weeks in....fracture is healed.
Visited Orthopedic surgion 3 times now.
Doc took conservative approach with fracture (no surgery).
He will access rotator cuff progress in 6 weeks. Taking off T-Shirts is a ***** due to limited range of motion and pain when I lift arm behind back....getting better though.
Rehab has been a daily routine now for 12 weeks.
Maintained cardio on stationary bike.
Muscle tone/mass went to sh_t though. I used to lift 3x a week. I pretty much quit after injury.
've got a long road ahead of me to back in shape where I was before accident.
Started riding again this week. Strength and stability good, Confidence good.

FBinNY 

The two best predictors of recovery r ry time are age and the extent of prior injuries.

It doesn't need to fully heal, but you do have to reestablish reasonable mobility. Then it'll depend on your threshold for pain, the quality of the roads you're on.

GhostRider62

Do your PT, don't drink, don't smoke, and eat a good diet. It gets better, just be patient.

3 plates, 150 mm rod, 25 pins/screws, a bit of chicken wire, and some cadaver bone thrown in.

It gets better in time. Mine is not 100% but I can ride. Slapshots are impossible, I think there is some loose hardware and one of the screws nicks the ulnar nerve but in time you should improve a lot.

pullings

After almost 6 months off road bike I started riding road bike again two weeks ago!
I started riding 22 miles every other day. After one week I bumped it to 25 miles every other day.
Shoulders (both!, not just injured shoulder) ache pretty bad towards end of ride and next day.
Hoping this is normal because I have not used drop-bars for almost 6 months??
Other notes:
I could have started back months ago on road bike (been riding upright ebike though), but have been very conservative due to nature of injury (rotator cuff pain....chose not to have surgery. Doc said my broken arm probably save me from having really bad tendon damage.
Woohoo! :-)
Maintained fitness on stationary bike for 5 months, riding about 1/3 (2 hours a week) of what I was doing on road bike before injury.
Also followed strict rehab....started progressive resistance weight training with light weights 2 months ago.

Maelochs

Don't stick out your arm when you fall .... again.