Dislocated Shoulder during AFF

[Sophlil 0]

Hey Everyone!

This past July I started AFF and during my Lvl 2 jump, my left shoulder dislocated when I waved off to pull. I had an awesome instructor who kept me calm over the radio on that super fun canopy flight down and I walked away without any other injuries.

I've had 3 previous dislocations and had arthroscopic labral repair surgery 8 years ago to fix this problem. I've been told by many an orthopedic surgeon that I just had very hyper mobile joints.

After this most recent dislocation skydiving, I went back to my surgeon and he agreed I needed to get another surgery if I wanted to keep skydiving. I'm definitely in the "honeymoon" stage of this sport and it would kill me inside if I had to give it up before I really got to taste it fully. I'm already in love with it. So I said "yes" to the second surgery, and now I'm sitting at 4 weeks post-op. My surgeon gave me a 6 month quote on the time when I can jump again, which puts me at the DZ again on March 1st.

I plan on testing it out in a wind tunnel before jumping again and possibly doing a tandem as well. I'm on here looking for any advice from people who have been through a shoulder dislocation and continued skydiving or have any knowledge of this injury within the sport. What is the best brace to get if you jump with one? If you've had surgery, have you had any recurrent problems afterwards when jumping? What is your story with this injury? Any and all advice, encouragement, or personal experiences greatly appreciated!

I really do not want to have to give up on skydiving because of this, and will do anything to eventually get my license. Thanks so much in advance for your help!

[Blis 1]

Be extra diligent with rehab and physiotherapy and remember to keep up with it even after you can start skydiving again...

[thetreehugger 0]

I havent dislocated my shoulder so no advice from me really. Just wanted to say take it slow and easy and do your physio or whatever else you need to do. You want to make sure you are going to be safe and able to carry out the tasks required for the skydives. (eg: pulling your pilot, canopy control, etc.) I'd hate to see things get worse for you because you rushed it.

Good luck. <3

[councilman24 36]

Eventually someone with this problem will answer. But I've know several skydivers over the years with this issue. One lady's should routinely dislocated, she would pull with her other hand and either pop it back in under canopy or after landing. She was an experienced jumper when I got to know her.

DO NOT RUSH getting in a tunnel or in the air. Wait until you MD or PT says to go. Take their advice on braces, tape etc. Skydiving and the sky will be there. But if you rush it you may end up with a joint so loose you can't continue skydiving if you push it. Also make sure you talk with you instructors about emergency procedures, including main deployment, if it happens again.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[bibliwho 1]

If your left shoulder doesn't dislocate as easily, what about getting a rig w/ the BOC on the other side? (i.e., so you're pulling with your left arm)

From my *extensive* experience (i.e., listening to Skydive Radio), I believe there are also alternative ways of setting up the deployment system to avoid the problems you're having (belly- or leg-mounted systems). Rig manufacturers or riggers should be able to provide more details.

In the long run one of those solutions would probably be your best bet to minimize the wear & tear on an already compromised joint.

Best of luck!

[Sophlil 0]

Definitely! I hardly ever did shoulder exercises or upper body workouts before, so I'm hoping if I continue to strengthen those muscles, it'll fix the problem. Thanks for your advice!

[Sophlil 0]

At first, it was really hard to hear "wait 6 months to jump again", but I have the same viewpoint as you on taking it slow. I want to do things the right way this time, especially since I've already gone through this surgery once before. Fortunately, I must've pulled a millisecond before it actually dislocated and I didn't start barrel rolling in free fall. My canopy also opened beautifully and I was able to flare on landing. I'd imagine my situation would've ended a lot worse if anything had gone wrong or I had any kind of malfunction that I had to deal with, without my left arm. I really appreciate your encouragement and advice, thanks so much!

[Sophlil 0]

Ahhh, what a badass lady! I actually tried popping it back in under canopy but just could not reach around the risers with my right arm. I also had no idea what I was doing and figured I was wasting time (and altitude) trying to be a doctor haha. I'm also always so fascinated when people like that have very little or no pain during dislocations, mine always hurt like a biatch!

Will definitely be following all the tips you gave as far as taking my time and listening to my doctors and instructors. Hopefully patience will pay off! Thanks so much for taking the time to give me some sound advice!

[Sophlil 0]

The good news is that it's actually my left shoulder that's the problem and have had great luck with the right shoulder so far, so a right side BOC is fine. You make an interesting point about a belly or leg-mounted system that I'll have to look into. My worst fear is my right shoulder also becoming a problem and dislocating during pull-time, so those could be better options for me.

Thanks you for the tips!

[councilman24 36]

You also might consider a Single Operation System, SOS, where one handle has both the cutaway cables and the ripcord. Available on most rigs. Some DZ's use them for students and a few experienced jumpers use them. One on several world record bigways. I actually have an SOS system down stairs I'm in the middle of converting. I may not bother but it did need a BOC.

You can also always go to a ripcord and spring loaded PC. In \board main RC and Reserve SOS handles would be reachable with either arm. I'm only partially kidding about the ripcord. Millions of skydives were made with one. And there's a reason your reserve is still a Ripcord. For that matter the rig downstairs still is set up for a main RC too.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[SmokeJumper 0]

I had loose rotator cuffs from prior dislocations racing motorcycles back in the day. On a jump from a DC-3 I was front float with a grip on the center float. Camera had rear float. On the count, myself and camera dropped, but center float didn't (he gave the count!) resulting in immediate dislocation of my right shoulder. With cameraman filming I first made sure I could pull my reserve, then spent 5000 feet popping my right shoulder back in. Got it in with 5000 feet to spare and landed uneventfully under my main. Had the surgery to fix my right shoulder and after physical therapy, I was able to return to the sport. No issues with the repaired shoulder.
Stay with the therapy and continue with strength exercises afterward.
Would not recommend any changes to your equipment unless you know for a fact that your surgery has incapacitated your shoulder to where you can not trust your ability to perform EPs.
Lastly many wind tunnels will not allow people like us to use the wind tunnel.