Dislocated my shoulder.

[diver64]

Your friend on the bike has better pain tolerance than me. I'm lucky I survived my dirt-street bike days, we would do 50 mile rides all off-road, and the street bike usually would see 100mph.

The trails I rode were the same ones they had the1973 International Six Day Trials on. Those guys were a crazy bunch, 100 miles a day. Most all those trails are closed to bikes now.



I broke both bones in my lower leg years ago (not on a bike), they put a metal pin in it, I was up on crutches in less than a week. Had to wear this big plastic orthopedic boot for ~ 3 months. But that doctor gave pain meds I was on for over a month. That was before the opioid "crisis". I had no problem stopping the pain meds

My shoulder was too painful to even get in a friend's truck. Called 911. At the hospital they put me on IV Delauid, took xrays, and when the pain meds had full effect they manipulated my arm back into the socket. That only took a few seconds.

I've reading up on this and they don't recommend trying to put it back by yourself/untrained non-medical people. You can do more damage. I don't think I'll need surgery unless there is soft tissue damage. They want do a CT scan and maybe an MRI.
I missed the appointment for that today as I was in too much pain. Sort of a couch potato I watch TV and try to read a lot on the computer

Be surprised at what you can do if you have to. I cut 1 finger length wise all the meat gone and my pinky was hanging by skin from a 90cc Jonsered. Bound them up and drove 30 miles to the hospital. Walked into the ER and asked for a doctor and the nurse gave me paperwork to fill out. 5 min in I set the pen down and I told her I hacked my fingers up with a saw and could I see a doctor before I bled to death. She jumped up all horrified and while walking to the room said she didn't think it was that bad since I was so calm. I said that having a hissy fit wouldn't make it any better. Reality was I cut all the nerves and it didn't hurt at all. When they unwrapped it all the nurses came in to take a look and ooooed over it then they wanted to helicopter me to a different hospital for surgery. I declined and told them I'd get my girlfriend to drive me down. I will never forget the "numbing shot" that first place gave me between my fingers. Hurt worse than the chainsaw. Still have no feeling in my 2 fingers and they are very stiff but that surgeon knew his stuff. I still got them.

 

[Mad Professor]

Ok. You shoulda mentioned that you had Percocet. You only said "Oxycodone"

Ok. Just add in some naproxen; you've already got some acetaminophen.

The vial just states oxycodone 10mg acetaminophen 325 mg. I believe Percocet was a branded name for the same

 

[diver64]

The vial just states oxycodone 10mg acetaminophen 325 mg. I believe Percocet was a branded name for the same

I tried one of those. Made me what I best describe as seasick. Flushed the rest down the toilet.

 

[Mad Professor]

I tried one of those. Made me what I best describe as seasick. Flushed the rest down the toilet.

One takes care of pain, the other inflammation.

 

[pdqdl]

Not really. Acetaminophen is not anti-inflammatory medicine. It acts in your brain in mysterious ways to reduce pain.
NSAID's such as Naproxin, ibuprofen, Aspirin, Indomethacin, Celebrex, (and more) are involved with reducing inflammation.

That's why you can somewhat safely take NSAIDs with acetaminophen and also the narcotics. They all have different modes of action, but the NSAIDs should not be combined.

 

[ning]

Benadryl can be used as a *temporary* sleep aid - one tablet 30 minutes before bed. Don't do this for more than two weeks.

Get some aspercreme (cvs/pharmacy store brand is ½ the price and identical). Spread it on the shoulder a couple times a day - great for localized pain & inflammation relief.

There's also voltaren gel. My wife likes it but it does nothing for me.

If you can get some, I find ibuprofen gel to work amazingly well for shoulder pain. Unfortunately not available in USA; I occasionally buy a bunch from UK pharmacies online.

The good thing about topical pain relief is that you absorb so much less of it so it doesn't impact the rest of your system as much (liver).

 

[diver64]

One takes care of pain, the other inflammation.

Oxy works for quite a few people but I had to get the doctor to prescribe something different. No idea why it made me so sick. Ibuprofen is great for pain and inflammation. I just got 10 stiches in my shin from hitting it with an axe chopping wood. 2 Ibuprofen really helped with the pain.

 

[JimR]

I think i got jinxed on here talking about my shoulders the other day. Tuesday afternoon I felt a snap in my left shoulder while working on a tree. I called my doctor and got in to see him on Wednesday. I was able to get a rush MRI done on it yesterday at noon. The pain isn't bad at all thankfully. I have an appointment on 9/5 to see the surgeon that did my right shoulder rotator cuff. The MRI results came back last night. It says that I have a partially or fully torn Superspinatus in my shoulder. That is the upper part of the rotator cuff. I don't think it is fully torn off as I was out using my 550xp yesterday afternoon cleaning up some tree limbs that are in my woodpile. My shoulder didn't bother me at all. It does have pain when lifting my arm and swinging my hand in and out with my elbow bent. His morning I am going to tape up my shoulder with heavy surgical tape that my therapist gave me previously to keep the shoulder really tight to the body. I guess any woodcutting will have to wait until I see the surgeon to find out just how bad I blew my shoulder out this time. Life really sucks getting older. This will hold it together.

 

[david newbie]

I think i got jinxed on here talking about my shoulders the other day. Tuesday afternoon I felt a snap in my left shoulder while working on a tree. I called my doctor and got in to see him on Wednesday. I was able to get a rush MRI done on it yesterday at noon. The pain isn't bad at all thankfully. I have an appointment on 9/5 to see the surgeon that did my right shoulder rotator cuff. The MRI results came back last night. It says that I have a partially or fully torn Superspinatus in my shoulder. That is the upper part of the rotator cuff. I don't think it is fully torn off as I was out using my 550xp yesterday afternoon cleaning up some tree limbs that are in my woodpile. My shoulder didn't bother me at all. It does have pain when lifting my arm and swinging my hand in and out with my elbow bent. His morning I am going to tape up my shoulder with heavy surgical tape that my therapist gave me previously to keep the shoulder really tight to the body. I guess any woodcutting will have to wait until I see the surgeon to find out just how bad I blew my shoulder out this time. Life really sucks getting older. This will hold it together.

I recently had prp for my shoulder, partial tear of supraspinatus. Not cheap and generally not covered by insurance, but I’m happy with it

 

[pdqdl]

Since everybody seems to be getting shoulder injuries, here's an odd story about my own shoulder injury.
I tore something in my shoulder close to 15 years ago. It was just a painful yank; I was catching myself from an unpleasant fall by grabbing something overhead. It hurt for about a year, but not bad enough for me to trust a doctor with any repairs. After that year went by, it only bothered me when I tried to reach overhead for something, particularly if I was attempting to jump and reach hard for it. But that never got any better for at least 6 years. Overhead reaching was just one of those things I didn't do anymore.

One year my wife asked me if I'd like to see if they could do anything with it, as we had already reached the upper "out of pocket" expense for our health plan. So I agreed to an MRI exam on my shoulder after the usual doctor visit.

They tortured hell out of me in that damned MRI machine. They wanted me to lay on that shoulder with my arm over my head for about an hour. It was actually holding it in the very worst spot, then laying on it to boot. I was not very happy about that, but I've been in much worse situations, so I just put up with it.

Now here's the odd part: Being forced to lay in that awful position for an hour broke down all the adhesions in my shoulder that were remaining from the original injury. Basically, the MRI became a theraputic cure for me, rather than a diagnostic aid. My doctor didn't see anything worthy of selling a cure for, and my shoulder hasn't bothered me since I came out of the MRI torture device.

If any of you guys get done with the trauma on your shoulder, may I suggest a few trips to a physical therapist. It might help a whole lot!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Well, some of the old timers on here remember my adventure in Alaska, and my 2 surgeries, but that was a total shoulder separation... good news is the cadaver ligaments have held up, and I'm probably at 80%

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Well, some of the old timers on here remember my adventure in Alaska, and my 2 surgeries, but that was a total shoulder separation... good news is the cadaver ligaments have held up, and I'm probably at 80%

"Cadaver ligaments?"

 

[bucketofguts]

I have lived through many MRI/CT scans with contrast that make me nausea i have to fight to stay in the tube and not squeeze the eject bulb.. Used every pain killer except military grade. Ice pack / crushed ice in a freezer bag with a shop rag until it freezes the nerve endings. You will have to fight the cold it is terrible until it works. Do it right and the skin will look like a peeling sunburn after many treatments. Meds will make you itch, throw your guts up, and constipate you at the worst. Metamucl is your friend if taking opiates. If they don't start a pic line in the first few minutes at the ER you are going to suffer. To get any RX pain meds from an MD is hard now days. Back in the day a wisdom tooth extraction you went to sleep, woke up and went to the RX to fill a week of codein QID. Think around 1980.Best of luck with your "Pain". Time works too says my FNP. She wears cowboy boots and Wranglers. Just saying.

 

[JimR]

The good thing about mine is that there isn't very much pain at all. Trying to lift anything outwards from the body right now is out of the question. I can feel the pull from a 45 degree outwards when lifting my arm with nothing in my hand. Hopefully it improves a little before I see the surgeon on the 5th. Medicare will cover the surgery.

 

[ZinTrees]

THC

you're not wrong here!

 

[bucketofguts]

It is nice knowing the surgery will be covered. Wish you the best. Glad you are not in severe pain.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

"Cadaver ligaments?"

Yeah, there's an old thread in the injury forum called "it was a hell of a ride" chronicling my little Alaska adventure... The AS community was amazing in helping me get through it, emotionally, physically, and even financially helping me get back

 

[pdqdl]

You mean this thead?

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/it-was-a-hell-of-a-ride.261576/post-4918755

 

[TheJollyLogger]

You mean this thead?

https://www.arboristsite.com/threads/it-was-a-hell-of-a-ride.261576/post-4918755

Yeah

 

[rwoods]

diver64's ER visit reminded me of my ER visit over 40 years ago when I cut my left hand in a bow saw incident. By the time I got to the ER, I was in pain. Fortunately, however, I didn't have to fill out any paperwork as the ER attendant quizzed me and wrote my responses for the medical personnel. Though she never really looked at me, as she kept her head down making notes, things were going well until she asks me, "Left hand, right?" to which I respond "Right." She scribbles out her notes and asks, "Right hand, right?" to which I respond, "No, it is my left hand." She again scribbles her notes and repeats "Left hand, right?" to which I again respond "Right." Same result. This conversation cycled yet a third time though not intended by either of us. In a desperate move I unwrapped my wounded hand and stuck it within sight of her bowed head and said, "This one". The poor girl turned white as a sheet and got me immediate attention.

I have injured both of my shoulders and the best advice I can give is get a recliner if you don't have one. Sleeping in a recliner beats a bed before and after surgery. I didn't have one and toughed it out in a fixed chair as it was impossible for me to sleep in a bed absence serious medication.

Hope all goes well for the OP and the rest of you that suffer shoulder injuries.

Ron