Alright. i have had two surgeries on my right shoulder and it is still popping out at the most random/inconvenient times, especially when im climbing. anyone have the same problem? if so it would be nice to know some strengthening exercises cause im sick of having a dislocated shoulder and having to take a ten foot fall just to put it back in place.

K

My insurance pays for the "armadillo" a velcro shoulder support. I have been downhill skateboarding, snowboarding and climbing for 4 years with this contraption. I have dislocated 1 -ce while wearing it but it seams to be better than nothing. If I could flame one company : simply stable, : they did not help me. Good luck, age is evil !!!!!!

Purcell,

It's difficult for anyone to give advice when you omit many details about what is wrong with your shoulder/your diagnosis, why you had two surgeries in the first place, if they were for the same or different things, if they were successful for those symptoms, etc. Not to mention that any good doctor or therapist would ask, "What motions specifically cause your shoulder to dislocate? Which way does it dislocate? [90+% of dislocations are toward the front of your shoulder, but it can also dislocate backwards out of the the joint or even down, although I do not think you would be sitting around typing about this on a computer if that was the case.] Do you have pain when this happens? How does the joint get back into place when this happens?" and so on.

My own shoulders do sublux (that is, pop out of the joint and then back in quickly) at times when I'm climbing. But I have a connective tissue disorder (genetic) that gives me this problem primarily. This is not something I can "fix" permanently but only treat to a certain extent with rotator cuff exercises and other shoulder stabilizer exercises to help do the job my shoulder joint ligaments are too loose to do very well. I have never had surgery.

I do know that chronic dislocation of the shoulder tends toward more chronic dislocation. i.e. the more it pops out the more likely it will pop out again...and again...and again. From what I know (and looking at your profile), your age, sex, and physical activities fall perfectly into statistics that say you are in the group most likely to suffer recurrent dislocation. Shoulder dislocations (to the front) usually result from abduction, extension, and external rotation--such as when preparing for a volleyball spike. This is also a common sequence of movements when climbing; our arms move quite similarly when locking off or starting a reach overhead for a hold, especially if our lower body is rotated while reaching.

I assume you went through physical therapy following your surgeries and they prescribed exercises for you which helped re-strengthen and re-stabilize things and that you completed your therapy in its entirety. (But maybe not??)

It's possible your shoulder capsule is very loose at this point. Imagine your shoulder capsule is like a candy wrapper around your joint. With constant dislocation, the wrapper can get stretched out of its normal size. The wrapper actually helps hold your shoulder in place, so if it's stretched out too much, it can allow the bone to pop out much more easily.

There are other things that could be a cause as well, but since you've clearly had shoulder trauma severe enough to warrant two surgeries at a young age, this recurring problem should absolutely be treated by your osteopath again (and I assume she or he is a shoulder specialist as well). If you didn't like your previous surgeon(s) very much or didn't think they did a good job, find another one to consult. Get copies of all your medical files, X-rays, MRIs, pics of your surgeries, and take them for another opinion. Find a sports medicine doc who specifically deals with athletes, and if more physical therapy is needed, find a PT who specifically is experienced in working with athletes also. Most healthcare professionals are trained and used to dealing with people who only need their outcome to be "good enough" to do basic everyday tasks. You need to find treatment that focuses on getting you able to perform at a high and demanding level again.

Sorry this is so long; hope this helps.

I found swimming to be great for my shoulder. Starting off with simply treading water and then moving to different typies of strokes. Also get on a cable crossover machine and do diffrent types of external and internal rotation type exercises, kinda like the ones they start you off with on the bands, but with weight. These things helped my shoulder tremedously, but I feel it will never be back to 100%.

I can appreciate your problem. I had a second degree shoulder separation from mountain biking. Have you done a course of physical therapy to help strengthen the muscles in the shoulder? My PT said that basically the ligaments have been stretched, and will not return to their normal condition. Therefore, I must work with weights to stabilize the shoulder via the surrounding muscles. So far I've been able to get back to mountain bike racing, but I must wait until June to start climbing again. I'd recommend some shoulder specific weight training to stabilize it further. Good luck, by the way.