Shoulder Surgery Advice

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1 
 Hello everyone, i am 16 years old around 5 10  215 pounds.  Last football season in the fall i had a mild AC joint seperation ( at least what the doctor though)  i took 8 weeks rest, and the shoulder never healed.  I recieved to sets of cortizone shots, and this didnt help much with the pain.

The next solution was surgery, to remove my clavicle. The time of healing for the surgery was 2-3 months. I had asked my doctor for a referal to PT, but he said it was not neccassary. After 3 months my shoulder still seems tender, not fully healed. At about 3 and a half months i didnt have full range of motion, clicking and cracking noises, and still very tender.

I went back to him and my doctor said give it more time. He said i could lift, jus as long as its not shoulder direct work. So i do triceps, biceps, alot of forearms, and lower body, and some rows.

Finaly i thought i needed a second opinion about my condition and if football this fall was still a chance. I went and seen another orthopedic doctor from a city that was a little further away.  This doctor was the best doctor i have ever had, he was very knowledgable and straight foreward. He had worked for the navy seals for 12 years.

We talked for around an hour about me, football, and my future. He did a bunch of range of motion test, strenth test and he came to a conclusion he believes at the same time of my AC joint seperatation he believes i might have torn my ( sorry i forget the exact word maybe someone can help me out) Liabriam ?

He said sometimes with a joint seperation u can tear this. And the hard thing about this is that it doenst show up on MRI,s unless u get gaddriniom shot in ur shoulder. And i never had that done i jus had a regular MRI.

I am wondering if anyone has any idea what might be going on ( i know none of u are doctors, but i mean from personal expirience and stuff) and some advice on how to deal with this.  The last couple of days i have been really confused on what to do.  It was last fall i had hurt my shoulder, i have seen 4 doctors, and im still back to sqaure one with football starting in about a month.

I know ill no more from my MRI results and talking to the doc again. but i like to hear some diff opinions from ppls personal expierence.
thanks alot.

yah i forgot something to . The doctor that i had jus seen for the second opinion, he is confused on why the doctor who did my surgery made about a 2 inch incision and didnt use a scope?

2

hey man, I’ve torn my labrum in both my shoulders now…i play football for a CIS school in Canada…what I’ve found with my shoulders is any bench press hurts bad…for my shoulders i do lots of lateral and posterior raises and light shoulder press to try to get them strong…

For my chest work I do a lot of pushups on wobble boards which helps alot i’ve found and also i do incline dumbell bench with my hands facing in…this doesn’t hurt my shoulders 2 bad…i dunno what position you are but mine don’t bother me too much when playing as long as I keep them close to my body and don’t get my arm hit when its all extended…

Im an offensive linemen by the way and judging by u’re size u’re not so its probably different for you…if you have any questions let me know

3

[quote]defen21 wrote:
The next solution was surgery, to remove my clavicle. [/quote]

Please tell me this is a typo, or that I’m somehow taking this out of context.

4

Yrs. ago i had the end of clavicle ground or cut off and acromium that was crushed removed.I remember it took along time to feel strong again,sometimes when my kids wanted a glass of milk i would forget about my shoulder and grab a gallon jug of milk out of the fridge and it felt like my arm was going to rip right off at the shoulder.

It took about a year to feel fairly strong and for pain to go away,it was numb and tender for a lot longer,about a few yrs.now its fine but i dont use a straight bar for chest i use dumbell’s with no problems.

When i first started doing chest movements it felt like something was ripping apart in my shoulder ,the dr. said it was just scar tissue tearing so i took it easy for a while and it finally felt good again.Good Luck !! take it slow

5

hmmmm i had my clavicle removed ( shaved off at the end to create more room so they dont rub together)

typo ? … i dont understand please explain further …

everyone else thanks alot … yah thats wat the second doctor told me , that it actualy takes 2 years to fully heal. he explain some scientific reasons about the cells n shit . but thanks for the post… i need more advice

6

[quote]defen21 wrote:
hmmmm i had my clavicle removed ( shaved off at the end to create more room so they dont rub together)

typo ? … i dont understand please explain further …

everyone else thanks alot … yah thats wat the second doctor told me , that it actualy takes 2 years to fully heal. he explain some scientific reasons about the cells n shit . but thanks for the post… i need more advice[/quote]

Sorry for the confusion, shaving the end of the clavicle to create more room makes more sense.

When you said you had it removed, it seemed rather drastic considering the nature of the injury.

7

[quote]PSYCH0_GUY wrote:
hey man, I’ve torn my labrum in both my shoulders now…i play football for a CIS school in Canada…what I’ve found with my shoulders is any bench press hurts bad…for my shoulders i do lots of lateral and posterior raises and light shoulder press to try to get them strong…

For my chest work I do a lot of pushups on wobble boards which helps alot i’ve found and also i do incline dumbell bench with my hands facing in…this doesn’t hurt my shoulders 2 bad…i dunno what position you are but mine don’t bother me too much when playing as long as I keep them close to my body and don’t get my arm hit when its all extended…

Im an offensive linemen by the way and judging by u’re size u’re not so its probably different for you…if you have any questions let me know[/quote]

yah i play outside linebacker which requires alot of pushing off, and use of the arms.

8

Same thing happend to me at your age. 16 yrs old playing football and a bad hit to the shoulder.

All the bs PT and time will not heal or help a torn labrum. Your shoulder will always be trying to overcompensate and cause issues all through out your shoulder,neck,scapula ect. I waited 10 years due to insurance and lack of correct information, that and pure frustration with doctors.

My advice is seek the best dr your insurance will cover. Do not waste time just because one is close ect. I went and found a shoulder specialist who handles the pro athletes and was confident in his abilities.

I am guessing you started getting impingment and had the bone shaved to make room. I didnt have that done but developed impingment from a torn labrum . The recovery time is about 6 months to a year which might seem like a while to be out but it sure beats a lifetime of nagging frustration. And the harder you lift ,play ball ect the more symptoms will develope.

I would also really focus on getting your scapula strong and functioning. Its all about the scapula.

9

hey ya umm the school covers the insurance since it was a football injury. The doctor i am seeing now is from Battle Creek, Mi . I am very confident in him. he seems like a really good doctor.

I would reccomend him to anyone, it would be worth the drive. but yaaa . the thing im having trouble with now is football. Wether to play my senior year and mess it up for a while. or to skip out on my senior year and let my shoulder recover. I will know more about this when i see my doc after the MRI.