0
g2uypie

(New Student) Dislocated My Shoulder Pulling...

Recommended Posts

Hello Dropzone!

I recently started my AFF courses on Monday, and on Wednesday I did jump 2 & 3. During jump 3, I reached back to deploy my parachute, and my shoulder decided to pop out of it's joint. I was able to deploy it, but I had twists that I was able to resolve as well. Ended up landing half-flare with one hand and went to the ER.

After I have recovered, I plan on jumping again. Is there any advice that someone could give me to prevent that happening again? A different form to pull? I plan on hitting the gym a lot more for shoulders as well.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ask a physio-therapist t teach you the best exercises to strengthen the muscles around your rotator cuff.

If you ever find your self hanging under canopy - with a weak arm again - reach between your risers and grab both toggles with one hand. That will enable you to flare completely without unwanted turns.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
g2uypie

Hello Dropzone!

I recently started my AFF courses on Monday, and on Wednesday I did jump 2 & 3. During jump 3, I reached back to deploy my parachute, and my shoulder decided to pop out of it's joint. I was able to deploy it, but I had twists that I was able to resolve as well. Ended up landing half-flare with one hand and went to the ER.

After I have recovered, I plan on jumping again. Is there any advice that someone could give me to prevent that happening again? A different form to pull? I plan on hitting the gym a lot more for shoulders as well.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!!



Having your shoulder dislocated only by reaching for deployment sounds critical to me. I doubt that working hard in a gym will solve that problem. Ask your doc! Having such a dislocation after deployment is much more frightening and very hard to handle for a beginner. My personal experience ... :S

dudeist skydiver # 3105

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hey man, similar issue here (alro right arm). I had several dislocations before I started jumping (torn labrum). I chose not to have surgery because of the recovery time, but once I started jumping and could feel my shoulder get a little weird. Looked in surgery again (decided no to again), then found a physical therapist that worked at a gym, showed me a lot of exercises (open the door, close the door, etc) with stretchy bands and made me do them until my arm was on fire. It made all the difference in the world. Pushups and stuff don't work the muscles that stabilize the joint just btw.

Also I know a girl who is super scrawny and like you had her first dislocation during AFF, same deal, hard core PT and she hasn't had any issues since (3/4 years now?).

Also, just for what it is worth, I found a gym/fitness physical therapist to be much better than an extremely expensive rehab facility. I guess the rehab guys are use to dealing with old broken people and just getting them to function at a basic level, the gym guy only dealt with people who wanted to be there and wanted to make people better than before they got hurt. I remember him asking "how much weight do they have you lifting at the rehab place?" I told him 10lbs, he laughed and said "ok, well we're going to start with 70."

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
To reiterate in case you don't know:

You need to look up exercises that are geared toward shoulder rehab and do them until you want to cry. Pushups, curls, bench press, all that is basically worthless.

Attached image are the ones that did me the best. (but I did 30 at a time, 5 reps, 3 times a day), the schedule on there is for old folks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm a physical therapist assistant and also dealt with dislocating shoulder in the past, Anachronist post has a lot of good info. you need joint stabilization exercises and you need to start at the bottom and work your way up. the exercises he gave you are perfect. then as you get stronger look up the "body blade". I believe anyone with shoulder issues should invest in one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
riggerrob

Ask a physio-therapist t teach you the best exercises to strengthen the muscles around your rotator cuff.

If you ever find your self hanging under canopy - with a weak arm again - reach between your risers and grab both toggles with one hand. That will enable you to flare completely without unwanted turns.



I think this is a great suggestion but please try it when all is good and you are not already hurting and trying to figure it out. Or do it in a hanging harness on the ground.

I decided I wanted to learn this and it was not as easy to figure out how to grab the toggles as I had expected. I would have screwed myself over or wasted time had it been a real emergency.

edit to include: The skydiving duck cartoon girl messed herself up after breaking her arm on aircraft exit and got off the DZ (3 bone leg break) trying to figure out how to flare with one hand. Learn that stuff before it matters.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Thank you for your input.

How do you feel about shoulder braces while jumping, when i'm healed. Or something to give a little more support to that shoulder.

Worst comes to worst.. Ill have to pull from my left I guess. Not giving up this sport.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
If I might make a polite and well-intentioned suggestion, off topic from your shoulder. The most concerning thing in your post to me was that you "flared" with one hand and one toggle.

As you figured out, all this does is turns the canopy; to flare you need to deflect both sides of the canopy at the same time.

At the risk of Monday morning quarterbacking, best bet would probably have been to not flare and take a plf. Point is, please do also try to embed in your thinking how a canopy actually works. I can certainly see how this might be forgotten in the heat of the moment, with 3 jumps, but at the same time....

Know your gear, in and out. Glad you're OK. Also, further down you ask about jumping with shoulder brace. Unless its some sort of big mechanical contraption, I think you should be OK. I knew a couple of people who jumped with them. That being said, I always wondered about the wisdom of these folks jumping when they had to treat their primary life-saving arm like it was made of glass, so I'd say your primary option would be to follow the other advice in this thread regarding PT.

__________________________________________________
What would Vic Mackey do?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I cant think of a brace off the top of my head that would work for skydiving but that doesn't mean they don't exist. however I believe kinesio tape could help, but it must be applied by someone who knows what their doing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
g2uypie

Thank you for your input.

How do you feel about shoulder braces while jumping, when i'm healed. Or something to give a little more support to that shoulder.

Worst comes to worst.. Ill have to pull from my left I guess. Not giving up this sport.



So I looked into the brace thing too, and the conclusion was if you did make a brace strong enough then it would have to lock your arm in that position, i.e. you wouldn't be able to put your arm down in the plane, or pull a toggle. Basically if you want any range of motion a brace won't work.

Someone also mentioned kinesiology tape, in absolutely no uncertain terms, it is an absolute gimmick. I also looked into that, and read a handful (there are only a handful) of scientific articles that addressed its use. There were only two possible uses, one was for children, where it is strong enough to restrict movement, so basically is a brace, and the other was as a placebo, basically reminding people to protect a joint because they can feel the tape. Other than that there was absolutely zero evidence to support the idea that it could stabilize a joint or prevent injury. If you really want me to, I'll go dig up some of the articles for you.

Thems the breaks I'm afraid, PT or surgery, that is about your only hope. Left sided pull is a temporary fix and shouldn't really be your goal. There are plenty of other instances where you might dislocate it as your skydiving progress.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Anachronist

***Thank you for your input.

How do you feel about shoulder braces while jumping, when i'm healed. Or something to give a little more support to that shoulder.

Worst comes to worst.. Ill have to pull from my left I guess. Not giving up this sport.



So I looked into the brace thing too, and the conclusion was if you did make a brace strong enough then it would have to lock your arm in that position, i.e. you wouldn't be able to put your arm down in the plane, or pull a toggle. Basically if you want any range of motion a brace won't work.

Someone also mentioned kinesiology tape, in absolutely no uncertain terms, it is an absolute gimmick. I also looked into that, and read a handful (there are only a handful) of scientific articles that addressed its use. There were only two possible uses, one was for children, where it is strong enough to restrict movement, so basically is a brace, and the other was as a placebo, basically reminding people to protect a joint because they can feel the tape. Other than that there was absolutely zero evidence to support the idea that it could stabilize a joint or prevent injury. If you really want me to, I'll go dig up some of the articles for you.

Thems the breaks I'm afraid, PT or surgery, that is about your only hope. Left sided pull is a temporary fix and shouldn't really be your goal. There are plenty of other instances where you might dislocate it as your skydiving progress.

I agree, he should go see a therapist and be properly evaluated. Strengthening exercises are the best long term soloution

Surgery should always come after attempting all other options.

As far as the kinesio tape, I would say you are for the most part correct. We personally use McConnell taping which is somewhat different and a lesser known name. No tape or brace will fix the problem, but instead act as a "band aid".
We are able to tape up patients in a way that will limit their internal and external shoulder rotation. ( IR being most relevant for pull time in skydiving ). That limitation creates a "stability" by ensuring that the patient/athlete will not overly rotate their shoulder and increase the chance of a dislocation. So similar in many ways to a brace.

Whether or not this will benefit the OP will depend on a lot of factors ( His personal anatomy, How his container fits, etc. ) that I cant determine on the internet.

I typed this on the fly so apologize if it isn't clear or sounds clunky. These studies can sometimes be overly clinical and objective and sometimes therapist must get creative and work outside the box to help athletes achieve their goals while also helping them have a successful recovery.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Soooo fun update for anyone with shoulder issues. I was under canopy last weekend and while making an abrupt and aggressive left turn (at altitude, for funzies, not swooping) managed to dislocate my right shoulder while bracing my arm on the risers. Fortunately while figuring out "can I still use this arm and flare?" I made a right toggle turn and tried to shove my shoulder back in place (if you've had some dislocating experience you might know what I'm talking about, if not it is hard to describe) it went back in. Was able to make my pattern and land safely.

First dislocation in years (and very unexpected), needless to say, I'm going back on the PT regime.

Just wanted to put it out there that it can happen at an unexpected time and how it might be remedied if you have the altitude to play with it some. The toggle turn I used as resistence to put it back was hand out in front of my shoulder and palm down, as I felt it trying to go back I put more effort into it, both in the toggle and "in" the shoulder, took about 3 seconds, maybe less.

(Also, I never dropped the toggle, I'm not sure I would have been able to reach back up and grab it with my shoulder out.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0