shoulder injury prevention

[happythoughts 0]

I have seen shoulder injuries happen in 3 scenarios.

1- Otter door - tail side diver. The pilot-side diver does
not dive straight out aggressively and the wind pushes
them into the tail-side diver. The left shoulder of the tail-side diver is pushed into door frame.

2- Tailgate exit. People step off and immediately bring
their arms out. The wind torques the arms and pushes
the elbows behind the shoulders rapidly.

3- Outside-center and organizers. Taking out pieces
and it goes wonky. The person gets twisted around.

[dragon2 0]

4 - land on wrist/lower arm after half-ass PLF

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[zxcvb 0]

5. I've seen several long-term pull-out jumpers with right shoulder injuries.

[topdocker 0]

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5. I've seen several long-term pull-out jumpers with right shoulder injuries.

How soon can I expect that to happen? After 15 years of jumping a pull-out (400-600 jumps a year), haven't had any problems.

6. Doofus in Otter thinks its funny to hold your hand against the bar while you are exiting. You exit, hand stays in plane momentarily, shoulder doesn't feel so good!

top

Jump more, post less!

[erdnarob 1]

For Twin Otter exit when in the door facing out, I recommend to place the corresponding arm around the edge of the door if you are on the rear or the front side of the door in order to protect your shoulder. On a Casa, the rear of the airplane is slightly taper, if you are exiting backward and on one side, make sure to not extend your arm too soon to avoid a strike from the taper edge.
Some people are just fragile concerning their shoulder. A friend of mine had to quit skydiving because he got a shoulder dislocation several times due to the free fall. Fortunately, each time his shoulder came back in place and he was able to pull properly.
The only case of shoulder dislocation which has caught my attention from a tail gate exit was the first jumps from the Boeing 727 in 1992 at Quincy at the World Fee Fall Convention. The pilot wasn't used to fly skydivers and drop them at 200 MPH.
We also don't have to forget a possible shoulder injury at landing. When you see that your landing is going too be very bad, make a ball of yourself by putting your arms around you and bending at the waist. Please don't try to protect yourself with elbows or arms. That will transfer the shock to your shoulders. I did that mistake once and got my shoulder dislocated including 3 broken ligaments, a pity. It took a 2 hours surgery under total anaesthesia to get my shoulder "repaired" followed by 6 months of physiotherapy. Now, believe it or not, but my injured shoulder works better than the other one.

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

[happythoughts 0]

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On a Casa, the rear of the airplane is slightly taper, if you are exiting backward and on one side, make sure to not extend your arm too soon to avoid a strike from the taper edge.

I've heard that referred to as "CASA bite".

I know 5 long term jumpers who have had shoulder surgery. All in otherwise good health (one a bodybuilder, with 9000 jumps).

Just trying to point out some things that could affect
anyone regardless of physical condition.

[stevo 0]

many things we do in skydiving put a great deal of strain on the rotator cuff. I had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff a year ago and since then i notice more and more people complaining about some form of shoulder pain at the dz. best prevention, stretching and strengthening the rotator cuff and warming up before jumping.

[Amazon 7]

Quote

I have seen shoulder injuries happen in 3 scenarios.

1- Otter door - tail side diver. The pilot-side diver does
not dive straight out aggressively and the wind pushes
them into the tail-side diver. The left shoulder of the tail-side diver is pushed into door frame.

2- Tailgate exit. People step off and immediately bring
their arms out. The wind torques the arms and pushes
the elbows behind the shoulders rapidly.

3- Outside-center and organizers. Taking out pieces
and it goes wonky. The person gets twisted around.

Someone making a "hard dock" as they described it.... more like grabbing a bunch of material of the jumpsuit as the fly past instead of flying to a slot... and doing a proper dock.

Torn rotator cuff torn ligaments and tendons in the upper arm... to the point that even a year and a half after the injury picking up a lpatop bag pulls the shoulder out of its socket with major swelling not to mention the daily pain.

No surgery yet You do find out just how good your insurancce really is when they will not even pay for the MRI that tells you how bad it was injured even after assuring the Dr's office it would be covered

[Ron 7]

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How soon can I expect that to happen? After 15 years of jumping a pull-out (400-600 jumps a year), haven't had any problems.

It happens with pull out and throwout. I had an MRI last mth and am dreading the result.

~5k jumps.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[kkeenan 13]

7. Ten-way Speed Star from a Twin Beech.

_____________________________________
Dude, you are so awesome...
Can I be on your ash jump ?

[kelpdiver 2]

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No surgery yet You do find out just how good your insurancce really is when they will not even pay for the MRI that tells you how bad it was injured even after assuring the Dr's office it would be covered

Due to the metalwork in the shoulder, I can't even get an MRI to diagnose the cuff. We did the surgery based on the presumption that something was wrong when I didn't respond to PT. And yes, partial tear, plus impending tendon tear.

[PhreeZone 15]

I'm getting MRI's shot this week on my shoulders due to possible tendentious or minor rotator cuff tears. Mine is probably from flying older style wingsuits that put a lot of pressure and strain across that area comboed with tandems and freeflying.

Not looking forward to my results either since its both shoulders that hurt. Hoping to avoid the knife...

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[happythoughts 0]

Quote

I'm getting MRI's shot this week on my shoulders due to possible tendentious or minor rotator cuff tears. Mine is probably from flying older style wingsuits that put a lot of pressure and strain across that area comboed with tandems and freeflying.

Not looking forward to my results either since its both shoulders that hurt. Hoping to avoid the knife...

That's what I mean. People try to characterize these
shoulder injuries as being out of shape.
I think these injuries are part of the change in wind speed on exit and body position.
Things like the wind pushing the elbows back behind the shoulders.

I think we need a list of "stop that" stuff that will make
people aware of what is causing these injuries and get the message out.