AC Joint Separation - How Long Were You Out?

I too am in my 30's, 37 real soon...lol. And that does affect healing/recuperation time, I know, not to mention waiting 6 yrs. to actually do anything for it.

Thank you dat1978 for posting up the helpful video. Sorry for the possibly stupid question, but am I right in thinking that in order to rehab my shoulder I'm looking to strengthen all the surrounding muscles, in effect more solidly supporting the clavicle to shoulder joint? Also is there a way to help tighten up/rebuild the ligament binding the clavicle to its original placement other than surgery? I have the 1 inch bump on my right shoulder and can feel it slide around and crunch and crackle, but retain full mobility. Any further help is greatly appreciated.
 
Hey so I attended my first freestyle wrestling class 2 weeks ago (Wrestlers. Are. Savages).

And when we were practicing technique I rolled over a spot on my shoulder and heard a loud SNAP. It hurt like a mother****er and I went to get it x-rayed. The doc said nothing was broken, but I still have reduced mobility and nagging pain. I've been waking up in the night because it's been throbbing.

Any idea what I did to it? The source of the pain is at the apex of the shoulder, I believe the doctor said I pointed to the bottom of my clavicle. It's my left arm and it hurts most when i move it across the right side of my body, or straight up in the air.
 
AC joint injury. What your doctor said is that you injured the ligaments that hold your clavicle to the acromion. How badly you injured the AC joint is impossible to tell over the internet. You should listen to your doctor, continue resting it, and maybe think about progressing to some rehab exercises to strengthen and improve rang of motion. If the joint feels unstable, go see an orthopedist or sports medicine doctor.
 
Awesome thanks a bunch.

Can you recommend rehab exercises or at least a place where I can find some?
 
I see my question has been moved to the appropriate place, excellent.

Can anyone out there recommend some workouts I can do while I'm resting my shoulder? I'm getting fatter by the day and I'm losing my mind. Running is about the only thing I can think of.
 
The recovery times I been reading about here seem way longer than what some of the stuff I have been reading states. I injured my AC about 3 weeks ago taking someone down and landing directly on my shoulder. The pain wasn't terrible but I knew I had probably hurt something.

It's alot better now and I can only really feel it if I throw hooks. Started training light again but really looking forward being able to lift. The only time I really feel it is when I wake up in the morning it feels kind of stiff and sore.

BTW, I am 29 and in good shape. I was just thinking it would be helpful for everyone to post ages and whatnot here so people can get an idea of each individual case.
 
SheerTechnique said:
Hey man. I've dislocated my shoulder 3 times in my bjj career. I now always train with a shoulder brace because it is not stable. I recommend my training partners with similar injuries to go to The Brace Shop. Knee Braces, Ankle Braces and more at discount prices. - The Brace Shop and order the mcdavid athletic shoulder brace. I has allowed me to get back to training 100%. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Sorry for the necro, didn't want to start a whole new thread.

There were a few Mcdavid Shoulder braces on the website. Is the light weight mcdavid shoulder brace, the one you were referring too? You said you were able to train with this on? Did it consistently come off during rolls?

http://www.braceshop.com/mcdavid-lightweight-shoulder-support.htm

there was also this more expensive one:

http://www.braceshop.com/mcdavid-universal-shoulder-support.htm

I know Sheer is still active on this board so hopefully he'll come across this post but if anyone else has experience with a shoulder brace that you can wear during training, please let me know. Thanks.

BTW, I have a stage 3 AC joint separation. Teetering on needing surgery or not. Doctors want to remove/shave down a piece of my clavicle (the spur (or lump) that has built up over the years). Obviously I prefer not to have surgery. I've been battling this injury for years. Usually a few months off really helps (the lump on my shoulder goes down quite a bit) but it only takes a few months of training for all of the pain to come back (and the lump).

I know I should probably just take a few months off, but I just did two separate 4 month breaks in the last 12 months because of my ac joint separation only to have the pain come right back. I'd like a solution to help protect my shoulder and allow me to stay on the mat.

I was thinking a brace (like the one mentioned above) and also a ice/hot pack shoulder brace for after training or during the day (this isn't as important as I can just use an ice pack, wrap it with an ace bandage, and throw a tight rash guard over for stability.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide!
 
Idk man, seeing how long u've been dealing with this, maybe surgery would be a good option. It could give u a chance to continue training without the breaks.

A shoulder brace would be good and as long as you and ur training partner are aware of the bum shoulder, us should be able to get away with light rolls. Also consider working drills that don't hurt ur shoulder and spend some time in the gym hitting those rehab exercises.

Also try under armour cold gear. It's uncomfortable as fuck to exercise in, but if my shoulder is feeling wonky, it is my go to rashy/gym shirt.

I have a theory that wearing compression and/or heating-gear style gear while sleeping helps with healing. Wearing mittens to bed has helped bruised knuckles heal faster. U will get weird looks from ur gf, S.O., or the girl that happens to sleeping over; but that just makes it fun. So, if u can put up with the unpleasantness, wearing the brace or the underarmour to be might be worth trying.

If ur dead set on not getting surgery, then use those four month "off times" as a chance to work on ur GPP. Just do what u can get away with; if it hurts the shoulder, then don't do it. I like Joel Jamieson's book, as it has a ton of ways to help u get better conditioned during ur off time. But I'm sure there are other great resources out there.

Finally, one thing that helped my AC joint problems that flared up after a nasty pec tear (was surgically repaired) was the "rotator relieved." Yes, it looks goofy as fuck but cured my AC joint problems 100%.

Now, my inflamed AC joint and a separated shoulder are two different things. But if u got 100 bones to burn, it might be worth a try. Especially, if u can sell it to a buddy with shoulder problems after (it's also pretty great for when the rotator cuffs get junky, or ur glenhumeral labral is not doing well).


Have a lot more ideas, but we are already past TL;DR territory.
 
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I suffered a grade 3 AC separation on June 10. 3 months later, I am almost back to normal. I'm rolling freely, except if i have to post hard with the injured arm/shoulder.

I did have some nerve issues as well, which I'm working through with dry needling treatments.

I still can only do 10 push-ups at a time right now.

Shoulders are weird injuries and everyone single one can be vastly different. I can't offer a recommendation, but wanted to outline my experience in case it helped.
 
I had a grade 1. Took about 6 weeks before I could roll, but had to take it easy for the first week. A few months back into training now but I still tap pretty early to shoulder locks. Still hurts a little to sleep on.
 
Bump.

Guy was turtled, started taking his back, got bucked off OFF of the mats, falling directly on to the hardfloor shoulder first. Heard crunching, immediately knew something was wrong but having had broken a bone, knew it wasn't that serious. Now almost exactly a week later, it's imrpoved maybe 30 percent which is encouraging.

Was supposed to be competing at the Chicago open this weekend, and while it is devestating to not be able to roll (and probably not seriously for at least another month) im using this time to work on my cardio; bike, treadmill, track, also abs and lower back.

I've been essentially in competition training the last 3 months, so it's going to be nice to drill some new technique for a while instead of goins balls out rolling.

Im guessing it's between a type 1 and 2 seperation. X-ray showed nothing broken or dislocated. I've learned more on the internet and anecdotally than what the D.O. told me; non sports physicians simply dont have adequate knowledge to offer to a well informed athlete... such as myself :) Her interpeting the xrays and verifying that nothing was broken was a big sigh of relief.

Be very proactive in your rehabilitation and imo you can eventually be back to normal. Im constantly icing, heating, stretching in the hot tub, checking for new and improved range of motion, flexing muscles, taking ibuprofen, resting it completely at times, keeping my fitness up despite not being able to do jits.

Am kind of worried about atrophy and loss of strength.
 
Like 6 days because I'm retarded. I was the instructor and I needed the paycheck. Still gives me trouble to this day about 2 years later. Emphasis on retarded.
 
Bump

35 and landed on my shoulder badly getting swept with a tome name. Ortho said it was a grade 3. He explained to me that the most recent research shows that there is no real evidence that surgery is a better route to take then PT. He basically left the choice up to me and I opted for no surgery. I did 2weeks in a sling and 7 weeks of PT. I have full range of motion, slight pain, way less strength, and it feels squishy as fuck. Sometimes I get a sharp pain across the spot where the bump is when I'm pushing off something. Been out since Nov and I'm going crazy. I'm real apprehensive about going back to training to early
 
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