Broken Shoulder...sigh...

Greetings ya'll -

Well.....it finally happened...my first bike crash and i broke a bone : (
Broke my left shoulder (luckily i'm a righty). Thankful i don't need surgery but the doctor is saying it'll be 2-3 months before i'm back to normal. it's been 2 weeks now and i've regained some movement in my arm...but i must admit that patience is not my best virtue. it's almost tough regaining the motion because you think you're ok and then all of a sudden you try to do something like just take your shirt off and think you don't have to be careful because you can move a little more...and bam...move the wrong way and OUCH! guess i need to settle in and just accept it.... ; )

so i cracked the top of my humerus - the part that sits in your shoulder and that the rotator cuff attaches to.

anyone else done this before?

really glad i don't need surgery! the ER dr. freaked me out telling me i'd need a pin ... but the specialist said (after seeing the MRI) that i am ok without surgery! yeah!

in case you're curious...this all happened because the people in front of me crashed and i just didn't have enough time to avoid them so i then crashed too.... : (

hoping i can get back on the bike before the first snow fall.....

Grand
so sorry to hear you crashed and hurt yourself!
Do whatever it takes to get better, okay?

I am so sorry you ended up hurt. Take care of yourself and heal quickly.

I.m recovering from the same thing! It's been about 3 weeks for me. My doc said 6 weeks total, so cross your fingers.
The ER Doc gave me the same "gloom and Doom" speech. I think they try to paint the worst case, more so to CYA for liability.
I'm seeing the orthopedist today. All I can say i hang in there, it does get better

Thanks for all the well wishes and thanks to fredwina for the post since she has the same problem! I read your blog...regarding the stationary bike - i can't do this either since i can't lean forward on the left side...BUT...i found a gym with a recumbent and that seems to work nicely.....of course not nearly as good as a bike trainer or being outside...but at least it's something!

lemme know how it goes with the dr. today. i've got my follow-up next week (also at the 3 week mark) - hoping i'll be able to start PT then. I think i'll be feeling better/normal by 6 weeks...but the doctor was telling me for complete healing of the bone would be 2-3 months....i'd be happy if i could just move my arm around in a few weeks...even if i still had to be careful about lifting things that are heavy ; )

take care fredwina!! I feel your pain....literally ; ) tee hee

Here's my thread:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...light=fredwina
I'll let you my progress on getting out of this "sorority"

Good luck! So sorry this happened.

Ouch! here's to a speedy recovery :D

http://www.paacesite.org/paacenews/n...05/mcfeely.jpg

Is it just me, or is he creepy?

I have the sling off, and can do everything but heavy lifting , and riding the bike(Darn!). Follow up in 3 weeks
I thought about doing the gym, but didn't want to get into any long term commitments, particlurlay since I can ride outside year around (I live about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.)

Aw damn - I hope you're not in too much pain and I hope it's not too annoying!!

I have just recently recovered from a recent stack that resulted in a fractured head of radius (one of your bones in your forearm. The fracture was just near the elbow). It's been 6 weeks for me, but I felt pretty good about it after 2-3 weeks. I even started riding after 2 weeks (against medical orders, but hey!!). I'm an OT so I did my own therapy, so that saved a lot of time in physio bills!

Anyway, I hope you recover well! And all I can recommend is to get back on the bike as soon as you're able! :)

I got the official Ok to start riding again today! Did not need to have any therapy either. it's a god thing as my lead in the club's mileage comptetion is down to less than 100 (I had an over 1,000 mile lead at one point) :)

Fredwina, that's great! Have you gone for a ride since you got the good news? Bet you are chomping at the bit to get back out... I crashed in mid-August, about the same time you did, and it has been just within the past week or so that I have been riding again. Feels great to be out in the fresh air. Only thing that stinks is I lost all my cardio ability, and my legs hate me. But compared to sitting at home, I'll take starting over any time! I wish you the best of luck, and I hope you find yourself close to the 1000 mile lead again soon!

Liberty, I've haven't had a chance. It's probably going to be tomorrow morning. All good things in time.....

Hey Fredwina -

That's great that you will be back on the bike again and that you don't need PT...i'm guessing my broken bone may have been a tad worse than yours. i still don't have full motion outward toward the side and still have some pain if i move the wrong way - but it is getting better every day. i started PT but i can only do stretches....and even some of the stretches they want me to do, i can't because i can't move in that direction yet...the strengthening starts in another week. getting back on the bike will probably take another couple weeks....

but i'm getting there...just takes time and patience ; )

enjoy the riding! hoping to be back out there by mid october - at least i'll make it out there before the first snowfall (even if the last ride i did was in the summertime) ;)

yes!!!!!i did mine aug 2005,YOU ARE NOT ALONE SWEETIE,Took 3 weeks for me to see measurable improvement and then daily it seemed to improve,physio physio,!!!make it your obsession,finally after 12 weeks i was back in the fast lane doing front crawl and going up hills out of the saddle,now over a year on it still sometimes wakes me at night and i get the odd tweak,mainly after a weekend of racing,did my collar bone in 2 places at the same time


bodies are ace,they are not like cars they do self mend.

Hey, Grand and Fredwina....

I've been there, too. It was about 8 years ago and was 2 serious fractures of the humerus - one about 4 inches below the shoulder, the other was a chip off the top on the outside of the shoulder socket. xrays were cool - the bone was shifted by a good 1/4 inch. I did have to have surgery, 3 pins in for 4 weeks and virtually zero movement in that time. Once they were out, PT three times a week for months. The accident happened on July 17, by the next spring I was on my bike again....I did lots of light weights, even while the pins were still in and worked my way back to normal...and learned SOOOO much about the shoulder joint.

Do be careful to keep moving your joint as soon as you have clearance to do so. The worst part to get over was the frozen shoulder! I ended up with a cortisone shot and hope I never need another one.

The other thing I did actually learn from having 4 weeks of being unable to dress myself, comb my hair, etc, was how to sit still. I credit that period of time with teaching me how to "see" the pictures I take now. It's all good. We're in it for the learning, right?

Oh, yes, and today, all these years later, it can get a bit achey if I am not active enough. I need to do something quite specific for the shoulder, too, either lots of reps with weights, or kickboxing with all those pushups worked well too. And Yoga helps too. When I'm not active is when the injuries of the past haunt me the worst!

Let yourself heal and then keep yourself going!

Namaste,
~T~

hey GrandPrix, aug 26 i crashed and fractured my left proximal humerus in 3 places (ie, the upper arm bone right at the shoulder socket). i had to have surgery w plate and 7 screws to reduce one of the fractures. the other two did not require surgical repair.

my #1 suggestion is to do your PT exercises faithfully per instructions. crucial to regain range of motion in the shoulder joint. my exercises and PT sessions are my first priority.

at least i crashed doing something i love

I'm pretty much back. my first weekend ride back was up Glendora Mountain Road, which wasn't the best idea :eek: and then I crewed for the 508 last weekend, My employer is having a beach party, so I'm planning on showing up with my Bike Friday...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by betagirl

Ouch! here's to a speedy recovery :D

http://www.paacesite.org/paacenews/n...05/mcfeely.jpg

Is it just me, or is he creepy?

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He's definately creepy.....

And FRED - please take it easy so as not to aggitate the healing process!!

Hey all -

Thanks for all the war wound stories....seems that i got away lucky not needing the surgery! I had my 8 week post accident followup this week and I was cleared to get back on the bike! Went for my first ride on Saturday!! Yeah!!!! I'm a bit out of shape 8 weeks later - but still felt great to get back out there again! My shoulder does get sore from time to time and my range of motion isnt quite 100% but the doctor seemed to think this was all normal and said it would probably be around thanksgiving time before i felt 100%...But he said it would take something major to disrupt the healing at this point so i could return to a normal routine and just not lift anything ridiculously heavy. I've been doing the PT faithfully! Some of the stuff makes me sore...but i guess that's normal....and my range of motion seems pretty good - so it seems i'm on the mend!! yippeeee : ) Thanks for all the shared thoughts and experiences - good to hear others stories!

Stay well!!!

Sorry for the tangent here but....

GrandPrix - how is my favorite city EVAH (Boston) now that the big dig is complete?? Has traffic changed dramatically?? Are the streets actually safe now..... as in everyone stays in their own lanes and are curteous to other drivers??

:rolleyes: ;) hehe

hahahaha - i don't think the big dig will EVER be finished! some routes are done and have helped with traffic but many are still being worked on and there are random road closings at odd hours of the day - so you find yourself stuck in traffic jams at 10PM or 2AM now... ; ) one of these days it will be done i hope ; )