<p>D2 crashed and burned running indoor track this afternoon - something about the “waterfall” then a pile up - resulting in a “severely separated shoulder” for my D - (knee injury for another girl and a variety of contusions for a few others.) ER doc says she “may” require surgery. Does anybody have experience with this type of injury? How often is surgery required? What is recovery time?</p>
<p>She is in a sling icing her shoulder + a couple of tylenol. Will spend the night in the hotel then ride the bus 7 hrs back to school. Her school is close to a major health center.</p>
<p>my mom just had a shoulder dislocated from a fall
Surgery may be recommended to her- however if your D actually does the physical therapy prescribed and wears her sling she may be able to avoid it.
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<p>See a respected orthopedic surgeon. I received a similar injury snow skiing. One doc wanted to operate. I went for a second opinion and was told if I behaved, i.e. no waterskiing that summer, I most likely wouldn’t need surgery. Never had the operation and I’m again doing both sports.</p>
<p>Nephew had the same issue. He took a winter off from skiiing and was fine.</p>
<p>Seeing an orthopaedic surgeon is the best idea. You need an accurate diagnosis. A shoulder separation refers to a dislocation of the Acromioclavicular joint and requires surgery only in the more severe cases. On the other hand a Glenohumeral dislocation in a young person is likely to become recurrent and therefore needs surgery. You can see the need for an accurate diagnosis.</p>
<p>I would recommend looking in your area for the best sport medicine orthopedist you can find, and try to find one that specializes in shoulders.</p>
<p>I have recently had several experiences with orthopedic surgeons and have discovered that there are numerous specialties within orthopedics and that skill sets vary widely. For example, a friend was told–after a fall in which one ankle bone was broken in three places and the other was broken once–that she would never run again and that amputation was a risk; that message came from a spinal surgeon who happened to be on call (and he wanted to do the surgery). After she found an ankle trauma specialist, he spent six hours rebuilding her ankle–and told her that she will be running in 6 months to a year. She has several pins and a plate.</p>
<p>Another friend was told by three orthopedists that her arthritis would keep her from running again; the fourth came up with a plan, and two years later she is running well and without her brace. </p>
<p>Incidentally, these are both sixty-year old women.</p>
<p>A separated shoulder is not the same as a dislocated shoulder.</p>
<p>A dislocated shoulder is when the arm bone separates from the shoulder joint. A separated shoulder is when things just get a little bit stretched in there, but everything more or less stays where it’s supposed to be. A separated shoulder is much less severe.</p>
<p>Both my sons are prone to shoulder separations. (Genetics?) (In fact, four years apart, I spent time in the same exam room in the same ER, for the same shoulder injury, on two different boys.) For them, the “cure” was ice, rest, and more rest. Which made them very cranky when the injuries occured in the middle of a sports season.</p>
<p>My younger son now wears a shoulder brace (rubber kind of straight-jacket to keep his shoulder from going on a wild ride) when he plays rugby.</p>