Ben - out of interest, how long did you wait for the MRI scan? I've done a small amount of physio work, but they are reluctant to do too much until the scan (it is still possible that they will operate on me too). As regards surgeons - my understanding is that this is a fairly simple op, so hopefully they shouldn't muck it up.

 

Don't be put off by the thought of surgery. I was $hitting myself as my op had many potential side effects and possible restriction in movement. In fact, had the consultant sneezed during the op and touched a nerve, chances are I'd be a one armed bandit now

You can rest assured that these guys are top notch and the best in their field.

As for the going private question..... bear in mind that the private hospitals employ NHS surgeons and consultants on a freelance basis so why give them thousands just for the benefit of saving a few months wait for the very same surgeon to do your op anyway.

Good luck and hope it all goes well.

 

Sorry to hear you're having such a rough time Chrome, hope you have some improvement soon and find something tasty to drive despite the auto box requirement. Soon after my accident I thought of a getting something auto to tide me over til I could drive my scoob again, saw a nice Honda Prelude on Ebay that needed a radiator so was v underpriced, docs said I couldn't even drive an auto at that stage though.

Chris, my MRI scan was unusually soon, I think my old man called in a favour with someone tbh. It was certainly within a fortnight of the referal. Will let you know how long it takes for me to get my second one in L'pool where I don't have any contacts! Sorry to hear yours isn't right yet either.

If my mate's dad is right and I need the humorous ball replacing I take it this will be somewhat more complex than repairing the tendons alone, I presume they'd do this too while they're at it tho.

Thanks for your ongoing advice Talizman. I'm worried about having to stay in a sling for months, is it usual to need one for so long after an op? I'm doing a masters at uni so being immobilised in a sling would mess things up a lot If it needs doing I'll just have to get on with it I spose.

Cheers,

Ben

 

Ben,

Your (proposed) op is a whole different ballgame to the usual shoulder stabilisation procedures since you have associated skeletal problems so I'd be guessing as to how long you'll be slung up.

For "normal" shoulder stabilisation after a run-of-the-mill dislocation(s), you are immobilised for 3-4 months depending on the extent of the damage and which of the subsequent possible procedures you are given.

Personally, I had to have open stabilisation as opposed to keyhole (arthroscopy) hence the "shark-bite" scar!

Due to the trauma to the ligaments and muscles, the arm must be kept in the inward rotation position (in a sling) for minimum 3 months to allow the ligaments to knit to the bone and heal up, so as the scarring underneath does not get damaged when you externally rotate the arm.

After this period of immobilisation, there are two issues....
firstly, the muscle has wasted as it hasn't been used for so long, so strength etc is pretty much nil.

secondly, and more importantly is that the repaired ligaments are MEGA tight, therefor it is imperative that your arm doesn't get rotated externally past the "hand shake" position, if this makes sense. In actual fact, it isn't really possible to do so anyway, without doing damage.

Intensive physio and stretching are required to get range of movement and strength back.

To put you in the picture, I was operated on in the May, I then got married in August and had to be extremely careful on honeymoon not to do any damage as I was just out of the sling and had very little strength or range. I returned to work after 4 months in light duties roles and was back to "contact sport" standard after 6 months.

It was a pain in the a$$ but totally worth it in the long run.

I hope your humourous replacement goes well.

 

My arm has started to ache reading this thread..

Good luck to all involved, maybe you will have an anna friel type nurse to look after you

 

His name wasn't David Ennis by any chance was it ?

 

Just been back to the doc for re-referral to physio as my range of motion is les than half of the other arm..
He's not going to re-refer me there, instead Im being referreed across to Nottingham shoulder 'expert' Doc newman.

light at the end of the tunnel perhaps.. hurrah

 

Jesus

I have dislocated mine for the second time recently and am going through all of this at the moment, got my MRI tommorow (cacking myself)

 

What lying in a tunnel relaxing for a few minutes listening to chill out tunes?

You've got a very low 'cacking it' threshold then.

 

i actually feel physically sick after reading this, no joke

 

I've got an MRI tomorrow too. It's my second one, in Liverpool this time, also having an arthrogram x-ray. Don't worry about the MRI Eric, it is a bit claustrophobic and noisy but not as bad as you might think, just relax and have snooze and you'll be fine.

I'll hopefully see the surgeon early next week when he'll be fully informed about what's going on at the end of my humerus and what to do about it. I've got a lot more movement and strength now and can use my arm normally 80% of the time, but I can still feel something is wrong most of the time and can't move it to above shoulder level.

Hope everyone else with injuries are recovering well. I didn't realise this thread would last quite so long or have so many contributors!

 

The last MRI scanner I used wasn't noisy in the slightest except for the choice of music offered from a selection of cd's and headphones.

 

nice..


I m still waiting on the specialist..
at this rate my shoulder will have seized up with scar tissue soon

 

I'll give you an update on my shoulder I had the MRI scan a couple of weeks back and got the results last Friday.

The actual scan was fine - a little noisy, but they give you some monster ear defenders. It was a little awkward as I had to lie on my side to get my shoulder flat (still have a lack of rotational movement in my shoulder and arm). The worst part was a second scan they did with some kind of camera. I had to have a dye injected into my shoulder that showed up on the film. The idea being to see the extent of the muscle and ligament damage I guess. The injection was unbelievably painfull - almost as bad as the dislocation!

Anyway, the results of the MRI scan have shown deep tissue damage that won't heal without any operation. However, that could be 6 - 9 months away and then I'd be signed off for a further 8 weeks Don't mind the op, but not exactly estatic at the wait. I'm trying to get this through my new private health plan at work. Fingers crossed...

Chris

 

Can you do that then ? :P

 

Still got enough movement to wrap a golf club around your neck!

 

I have seen the way you swing mate, youd miss

 

good luck chris- sounds awful..


MRI- now theres a thought..

 

update: my arm is still buggered.
saw the specialist/s and had umpteen xrays.. they werent happy with the results, so off to the MRI centre on thursday next week.. then back in 14 days for results and floow up if needs be

they think when I had my fall I may have broken part of the glenoid cavity, and some of the cartiladge has leaked out!
hence im in pain if my shoulder is not relaxed as its bone on bone

also fecked my scapula which needs re-aligning, AND they are concerned about the subluxation that hasnt healed..



bugger.

 

Yours sounds a lot worse than mine Chrome I've had a note through from the hospital confirming I'm on the waiting list for the op (couldn't get it through my new private health insurance - which, to be honest, I'm not surprised about). It should be done in the next couple of months.

My shoulder is a lot better and I can do some gentle weight training at the gym now, but as others have mentioned on this thread, I know that it isn't right and it still aches.

Hopefully everything will be sorted by May....

 

cheers Chris.

I'm hoping that the MRI will come back fine, and it will be a case of some more physio..
I really don't fancy surgery. BUT if it has to be done then so be it.

It's been 3months now, and I cant keep on with the anti inflam's and the ibuprofen..
All should be revealed on the 31st (MRI review date).

Mildly reassuring to know that its a common injury, and that others have had far far worse and their's is sorted now (talizman )

 

Chris and Chrome,

I was really apprehensive about surgery prior to getting it, but I can honestly say that after having it, I would strongly advise anyone offered the same procedure as me to go for it. It really is the best thing I ever did.

I appreciate that most of us are suffering different symptoms, but at the end of the day, the mechanics of the shoulder are bread and butter stuff to orthopaedic surgeons, and I'm sure they'll sort your issues out.

After dislocating my shoulder 5 times, I had "retired" from TKD competition at the grand old age of 25 I genuinely couldn't get involved in physical sports without huge apprehension that it was going to come out.

Now, it is stonger than it could ever have been without surgical intervention. I have strength in all planes, and most importantly, true integrity in the joint.

So much so, that I resumed competing last year, approx 1 year after surgery and resumed where I had left off a few years earlier by winning 2 gold and a bronze at National Competition

In fact my last dislocation prior to surgery was so pathetic in the manner that it had come out, I had lost all confidence in the joint, yet in September last year I had a motorcycle accident that would have guaranteed a dislocation previously, yet it stayed put, strong as anything!

Hope you guys get sorted sooner rather than later.

 

That's really good to know. I'm in exactly that same situation at the moment. I haven't been back on a bike, since my accident in July - I just can't face it at the moment. The loss of confidence is shocking. I've got the chance to go skiing later in the year, but there is no way I'm going to risk that at the moment.

In an odd way though, it's made me appreciate what I had before the dislocation. I've got back into the gym and I'd like to start playing hockey again and I'm also looking to start badminton and squash again with some of the guys from work. It frustrating at the moment, as I know I can't do any of these until I have the op (let's not even mention golf!) - so I'm really keen to get it properly fixed.

Chris

 

This is surreal

Got my MRI results a week ago, not good either.

Likely need surgery after intensive course of Physio

Not looking forward to it

 

Chris,

The psychological benefits you gain post op are unbelieveable.

My shoulder was so weak that is was getting progressively easier to pop.

My 1st, 2nd and 3rd times were all fairly traumatic injuries to dislocate it (doing TKD) but the 4th and 5th times weren't even doing sports!

Coupled with the fact that doing my job, I could dislocate it at any time, (police) I really needed fixed big time.

Before the op, I couldn't even hang from a chin-up bar, cos I felt the joint seperate and knew it was trying to dislocate

Now, I can without any fear of popping it, and no apprehension whatsoever, enagage folk in physical contact (if need be) and compete at high levels once more.

If I hadn't had the surgery, I wouldn't even have considered doing my bike test, and when I had my spill last Spetember, I tumbled through the air, hit the deck at about 30mph and skidded along on my ***, all the while getting battered about. When I came to a stop, my first thought was, "$hit, my shoulder is going to be out"..... but I quikcly realised that it was pretty happy, and intact.

That for me, was the ultimate test and has made me realise that I can do anything with little or no fear of it dislocating.

 

I honestly cannot believe how bad this is, that you have had to wait for so long for ops. I know Chris is champing at the bit to get back on the golf course - poor state of affairs for our health system

 

It's all down to priorities really. I know with the MRI scan that kids and cancer patients are always priorities - which you can understand. Dislocated shoulders are an inconvience and not life threatening.

The only thing I wish had been done differently was scheduling in the op as soon as the dislocation had happened. From what I can make out, talking to people in a similar situation, it seems that almost everyone ends up having an operation to fix the muscle and ligament damage. I know that if I'd been covered by my private health care, that's exactly what would have happened (changing jobs, meant that my new private health scheme hadn't kicked in at the time of my accident).

I can't fault my local NHS hospital in terms of treatment or quality of equipment etc (ignoring the sod of a doctor, who tried to relocate my shoulder on the 3rd occassion it came out - I'd happily shoot him ) - it is just the length of time to get anything done which lets it down.

 

Funnily enough; the consultant was not happy with my GP for leaving my referral to him for so long.
Plus when they asked about my previous xrays, I told them where they were done (QMC) and all three of the docs in the room rolled their eyes
SO; off I went across the yard to the xray dept' for six xrays inhouse as they obviously don't think much of their colleagues down at the QMC

MRI scan on thursday.
cant wait.
I need an answer.

Bloody arm is doing my head in.. it doesnt hurt all the time- if pick up something its fine.. then other times it aches so bad when unloaded (ie: hanging down by side, or even laying on my back in bed) that I want to knock myself out just to stop the pain!
I woke up loads of times last night as it was really giving me jip.
Sorry for moaning..

 

I know what it is like! It is frustrating. I know that my arm has got a lot better and that leads you to try and use it normally - which is where you come unstuck. Anything DIY related is a nightmare. I can't hold a power drill for long and trying to hang some new blinds I bought is nearly impossible.

Some days it is fine, others it really aches and I've lost count of the times it has woken me up at night. PITA

 

had the mri today...

It's a good job im no bigger as I only just fitted into the machine 'tunnel' (broad at shoulders)
Was very very tight.. horrible really...
had to put my shoulder in a 'clamp' thingy to hold me still, and by god was it tight and I was in agony from the pressure on the front and rear of my shoulder I didnt complain though- didn't want to wuss out
As my left shoulder was in the clamp, my right was wedged right into the tunnel wall. cramp-tastic.
I also was given some headphones, which were quite quiet compared to the huge racket of the machine- then when the technician spoke to me she nearly deafended me as her volume was about 500% of the music! LOL

glad it is over tbh.

go back for results on the 31st of this month..