Repeated shoulder dislocation
Hi,
6 months ago I dislocated (anterior) my left shoulder during a Judo competition. I followed it on with 8 weeks of physio, and decided not to return to judo until after the state exams I am doing this month.
Since then though I have dislocated it on no less than 3 more occasions. Two of these times required me to go to hospital and be anaesthetised while my shoulder was put back into place. Each of these were caused by only very minor force eg: awkwardly catching a football in my hands. And yesterday when I slided in to kick a soccerball, and knocked it outta place by supporting my weight while going down.
I find it unlikely that in this state I can rejoin judo, something with which I am not willing to accept. I believe I need some sort of surgury to shorten my stretched ligaments. I have a doctors appointment in a few weeks. But until then I would like to know any information anybody could possibly give me on procedures used in this, what the are called, what they entail.
I have searched on the internet to no avail, I don’t really know what I am looking for see. I’m baffled by the medical terms. But I will not enter any surgury or treatment unless I understand it completely. Any info at all anybody could give me (websites, or personal knowledge) on these or anything to do with shoulder dislocations would be much appreciated.
Thank you
Declan
4 comments
talon
[quote]Declan,
I’ve dislocated my shoulder about 17 times, getting ready for surgery # 2, Your shoulder will never be right again without surgery. I’ve seen four different specialists, they all agree. Rehab without surgical repair has a less than 3% success rate. Don’t do the laser/heat treatment mentioned, it’s called thermocapsulary shrinkage and it involves heating your soft tissue to tighten the shoulder up, problem is, everybodys soft tissue reacts slightly different to heat, they have had problems with over tightening causing severe loss of range of motion as well as strength. Oh yeah, my surgery was successful until I fell hard on my outstretched arm again about 1 1/2 years later. The procedure is the bankart repair and it’s not very painful or difficult to recover from. I was back playing baseball in four months!
-Just thought I’d share my experience, hope it helps.
fox
hey there,
just wanted to give you a heads up, there is another type of therapy for the unstable shoulder, its new so im not sure who is doing it, they use lasers to shrink the joint capsule thus making things more stable, ill try to find some more info on it for you, sorry to say that i dont even know the name of the op. if you look around for info on it, and find some let me know, id be interested. might be an option for ya?
apexaviour
Hi, this is Declan again, I managed to find a very informative website dealing with exactly what I was asking about.
http://www.vh.org/Patients/IHB/Ortho/Shoulder/Shoulder.html
The procedure I think I want to get is the Bankart Procedure.
“Bankart procedure: an operation that tightens ligaments and repairs torn capsular detachments, restoring shoulder stability. It is often performed for athletes involved in throwing sports who suffer from recurrent dislocations and subluxations. It allows the patient to return to contact sports such as baseball, football, wrestling, and ice hockey because the muscles and tendons are returned to their anatomic locations.”
I am giving this information incase anybody else is having similar problems as me.
Declan
sarah_g91
Hi Declan,
I am very sorry to hear of the troubles you are having. I too am a judoka and have seen a few shoulders been dislocated!
I have a friend who’s son suffered a shoulder dislocation (not through Judo) and had the same as yourself.
He had to give up motorcrossing and many other things. Even swimming could pop it out. He had wanted to join the firebrigade but had to put it off as a result.
He had some surgery and I believe it has helped. I don’t know any of the details, but I can ask my friend and pass it on.
I know all too well what it’s like to be off the mat and how frustrating it is when it’s your body stopping you.
E mail me if you like, and I can send you what info I can when I speak to my friend next.
Sarah.