i fell bad, dislocated LEFT shoulder ... completely immobilized, probably months

[Doofy]

this is an UPDATE, thankfully not a repeat ... I don't want to concern everyone again...



cleats are great if they work for you. my gait does not allow me to use cleats as they would just fall off. I just need to me careful, esp on ice.

Physiotherapist told me that recovery would take about 15 months for the amount of injury that i had - that took me till this past Christmas (2022), so for the past 2 months, my shoulder, though easily tired / aching, has been managing.

i haven't read this post since shortly after i fell. Doing okay now Thank you all, Thank You Lord.

Glad you are better. I keep falling and trashing both shoulders. My healing has been taking upwards of a year each time it happens. Wife has been threatening to Bubble Wrap me.

 

[newbury]

Perhaps us old farts should all take yoga to enhance our small motion skills and balance.
I've lived my life doing things slightly unbalanced, things like stretching too far on a ladder, trying to balance on a chair while just barely reaching a bolt, trusting a rope not to break. And have occasionally slipped and WHOOPS.
The whoops seems to hurt more now.
Bubble wrap seems like a good idea. With duct tape to hold it together.

 

[Hay Dude]

Get well soon.
I took a fall this time last year, busted up my back and got a concussion from falling off a farm machine. Everything was fine, then it wasn’t. Could have easily been paralyzed if I had fallen just a few feet differently.
Stayed home and posted on TBN for about a month. Luckily it didn’t snow, so I didnt have to plow.
Caught up on some paperwork and started looking deeply into retirement accounts and finances with a pounding headache.
Life is short-be careful and try to have some fun.

 

[Dftodd]

I've been trying to skip over this thread because it's just such a real possibility for me I don't care to address. I fell a few weeks back, foot slipped on wet grass. It would have been so easy to take out an ankle, leg, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow or wrist. As it was, I only torqued my right wrist a bit. It was tender for a few days, but no lasting effects. I've become somewhat unstable and have to take every step with far more caution.

I just hate to read about people getting hurt.

I've noticed in the past 10 years that my balance isn't what it used to be.

Used to not think about popping up on the roof with a leaf blower , blowing the leaves out of the valleys, and gutters.

Then, one year, I climbed up on the roof with the blower and realized I was fixing to fall from the steeper portion if I didn't act quickly.

I quickly changed direction and headed for the milder pitch of porch roof before I went over.

Wife heard the bang bang bang in quick succession across the roof and came out and checked.

After that, I rigged up an extension for the blower to avoid that portion of the roof.

Fast forward to last year during a snowstorm. Out walking the pooch, and all of a sudden, my feet were about 3 feet off the ground, and I was headed down and landed on my right hip.

No warning or realization till my feet were up, and I was headed down.

You know the test on how you figure out if you're old or not by falling?????

If people laugh their butts off, then you're still young.

Well, one of the neighbors' kids (early 20's) stopped to check on me with her boyfriend

That was a blow to the ol' ego

 

[sd455dan]

Glad to Hear you are doing well Scaredy.



Saw the doc yesterday and Got the OK that the broken hip has healed enough to be weight bearing.

Graduating to a cane today.

Very thankful that it wasn't worse.

Be careful out there.

 

[ConawayFarms]

The biggest hurdle isn't usually the procedure itself, it's the patience required afterward. Shoulder recovery is slow, and physical therapy can feel endless.

The key is consistent, guided work that prevents you from rushing or overdoing it. Having a surgeon who stays involved throughout the process, not just in the operating room, can really help you avoid setbacks. If you don't already have that connection, reaching out to this shoulder surgeon for follow-up planning is worth the effort.

It makes the difference between just "getting by" and regaining strong, reliable movement.

 

[zzvyb6]

This happened to me 20 years ago. Never did heal completely, got worse & worse every year. Couldn't even pull out my wallet ! Even driving hurt me because of the arm-rest position.

Finally I had a "Reverse Shoulder" operation. They put in an actual ball joint (metal). A ball on your shoulder blade and the socket on your arm bone. Took a month to heal. Then 3 months of forced therapy (they manipulate it very heavily.) Better than ever ! Don't let the x-ray scare you, although it did me....

No, I didn't get a Zerk fitting with it, "Lubed for Life" I guess...

 

[CliffordK]

I'm a bit late seeing this thread.
I'm glad to hear that you did eventually get better. How is your range of motion of the arm?
First, I am surprised the original diagnosis was so difficult. I would think that any asymmetry would stand out quite a bit, although perhaps masked if you were tense and strongly guarding the arm/shoulder.
Now that you are a few years on, how is your ranger of motion of the arm? Strength?
I'm a bit surprised that surgery wasn't presented as an option. Obviously each case is different. Mom has had a couple of falls, generally with slick conditions. And, had rotator cuff surgery in one or both arms, and eventually 1 or 2 replaced shoulders. It helps a lot. Her arm motion seems pretty normal. Maybe a month or so of recovery each time.

I haven't personally had shoulder problems. I have hyper-extended my elbows a few times over the years... wow, they seem to take forever to heal.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I finally had my rotator repaired back in 2011. I could no longer raise my arm to adjust the radio in my pickup. My surgeon called me one of his hard headed half a dozen, lol. Not sure how I tore it. It may have been when I was working LTL and we were moving a lot of home gym equipment with handcarts. Some of which weighed over 400lbs.

Anyway, the operation ended up taking six hours and some teflon screws and cables. I had a lot of excess blood pooling after the op which clotted and went through my heart into my right lung four days after the surgery. I woke up at 4am with pain in my lung. Don't have to be a rocket scientist to know what had happened.

ER doc kept stressing how lucky I was. My reply was that I had things to do.

Spent a week in the hospital. Attilla the hun came in every twelve hours and gave me a shot of lomenex in my abdomen. Kept me on blood thinner for six months. My surgeon was PO'd because the hospital had not called him right away nor had they done any PT on my shoulder. I was kind of fuzzy through that time.

My PT was long a bit painful. In a nutshell, improvement was slow, like 1/4" increments raising my arm. I got to horizontal and stalled out. My therapist had spent his Army days at Walter Reed so he knew what to do. We slowly got my elevation to improve until I could finally raise my arm straight up.

Overall, I can do anything that I need to without issues with that arm. Every now and then, I do something and feel a bit of pain. My thought is oh oh but it settles down and I breath a sign of relief.

Like other's have posted, my balance is not what it used to be. After a fall last year which took me to the ER but only bruised me, I no longer step off of my trailer with a bale of hay. Rather, I stage it on the fender while I step onto the hay deck.

I really need to wear the ankle braces that my foot doctor prescribed for me more often. I hate them as I need to wear a half or full sized shoe over my size 13's with them. I have enough trouble with my normal size 13's.

Hey, were' not getting older, just better right?