Arm dislocation in freefall

[Hazarrd 1]

On my first jump in 3-4 weeks yesterday I was doing some fall rate work with a new jumper. He was pretty heavy so when I went low to have him come down to me, I was arching pretty hard. All of a suddent I felt my arm dislocate from my shoulder and then it popped back in after 2-3 seconds, nothing else went wrong on the jump and I made 2 more consecutive jumps. Today my arm is a bit sore where it joins the shoulder.

Has anyone had an experience like this? My arm has never done this before and I've never had any problems even close to this before. I'm concerned that this problem may occur more often now that it has happened once. Thanks.

.-.

[Nightingale 0]

see your doctor for an x-ray to make sure you didn't damage anything and everything went back the way its supposed to.

rest, ice, etc...

glad you're okay!

[Blahr 0]

Hey!

I'm the anvil that you were jumping with!
I'm thinking of upsizing my jumpsuit to a circus tent
so you can jump with me again without injuring yourself

Hope that soreness goes away fast.

This is an issue for me as I'm a bodybuilder and so very heavy for my size. I tried to compensate with a very wingy jumpsuit but that doesnt seem to have been enough. I keep my arch as flat as I can while still remaining stable but damn I'm still falling fast.
At 240 lbs out the door its hard to slow down.

[Luv2Fall 0]

Same here.......this weekend I was averaging 165 to 168....what the hell.........makes good for a hybrid dive.

[Blahr 0]

On your belly??
Eeek, I'm not THAT fast. Well, maybe I am.
I dont have a protrack or anything so I dunno. I was figuring 125 or so but that was just a guess...

Darren, did you have anything clocking our speed on that jump? I'd love to know how fast I actually fall.

[Luv2Fall 0]

Only my belly...........did a hybrid with a free-flyer doing a sitfly yesterday......we docked and held....great fun. I do arch pretty hard to keep up with those sit flying. Get you a Neputune or Protrack.....fun toy to have. I've wouldn't have bought one because of cost, but my wife did....glad she did.

[cruzit 0]

I agree you should see your doctor to see what's up. I have several friends who skydive who have had this happen and yes...once it has happened once, it is more likely it will occur again.

You're very lucky it popped back into place. I once had a level 1 student's right arm pop out during the exit. We ended up pulling for her. Thank goodness she was heads up enough to grab both toggles in her left hand at flare time.

[Pooks 0]

Hi, I mainly lurk here and don't post since I'm a newbie, but when I read this post I thought I'd add my two cents. I would see a doctor as well. I had a mild dislocation many years back while playing basketball and after that happened my arm would come out all of the time. Never to the point where it would need to be re-set, just out then back in after a second or two. After this happened to me the second time while behind the wheel of my car I decided to see a doc. (The wheel would jerk from hitting a groove or pothole and out it would come.) I ended up needing surgery, but usually if things are mild, simple strength building exercises can help the problem. FWIW, it's amazing how weak the stabilizing muscles are in most people's shoulders. (Even the big meatheads are often weak in this area.) A physical therapist can make you cry lifting a soup can!

[Blahr 0]

Speaking for the meatheads I would tend to agree.
Most meatheads forcus on mass and strength building exercizes and tend to ignore smaller muscle groups like the rotator cuff.

[Hazarrd 1]

thanks for the replies. it was good jumping with you chris. hopefully we get to jump later this week. will you be out at cross keys on saturday or sunday? they are calling for ok weather right now (knock on wood). im going to get xrays tomorrow at the hospital, hopefully everything turns out ok.

as far as how fast we were falling. avg. speed was 135, max was 140.

.-.

[Nightingale 0]

check your health insurance... make sure they don't deny coverage to injuries occurred while skydiving.

If they'll cover you, you were skydiving.
If they won't... you fell off a ladder hanging christmas lights.

[skycop 0]

I've done that before too. Have it checked, my problems stem from old football injuries. My right shoulder even dislocates when I hit a hard backhand playing tennis or raquetball. Nothing they can do for me, I just deal with it.
If I feel it starting to happen i just let go and track away. It's only happend once in freefall.

"Just 'cause I'm simple, don't mean I'm stewpid!"

[Blahr 0]

I might be able to pull off a jump or two :-)

Either day is ok, lemme know which day you are going out and I'll meet you there

I'll use my swoop cords :-)

140 on my belly. Anvil is right.

[hookitt 0]

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140 on my belly. Anvil is right.

Question for you. Do you fly in the fairly maxxed out arch depicted in your Avatar?

edit: I'm guessing that's an AFF picture so probably not eh?

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[GAskygirl 31]

Been there, done that, had the surgery. Life is good now. :-)

Mine tweaked painfully on creepers one day, then dislocated on the next two jumps in a row (two weeks apart). First time, it went back in on deployment. Of course it was my right shoulder, Murphy is well and strong! The next one required an ER visit to put it back in. I had surgery several months later, skydiving with a brace in the meantime and for seven months afterward (two months off jumping, seven with the brace), and so far so good.

In researching the surgery, success rates, etc., the info I found said that in young, athletic people who continue to do the activity they were doing when they dislocated the shoulder, there was around a 90% recurrence rate. Careful with those shoulders...they can be very hard to fix completely due to the high mobility of that joint. I'd suggest that you get it checked out so you'll know if it needs to be fixed and is fixable before you hurt it worse.

Blue Skies!
-=Christy=-
D-21464

[Blahr 0]

Quote

Quote

140 on my belly. Anvil is right.

Question for you. Do you fly in the fairly maxxed out arch depicted in your Avatar?

edit: I'm guessing that's an AFF picture so probably not eh?

Correct. Thats an old pic from my student days. Actually about 10 years ago. I was very fond of backsliding back then :-) Didnt fall as fast though. I weighed in at about 160 lbs back then. Now I'm 210
with the same waist size. Same basic size but 50 lbs heavier and its mostly upper body. Arms, Chest, shoulders, back.

Today I fly a bit more compact rather than a flat out spread-eagle like the old days.
Hands more or less next to my ears and legs straighter but not so wide.

I have improved but I still have much to learn.

I am but an egg

[ripper0289 0]

My best advice would be to talk to your doc and get a referral to an orthopedic doctor, some people do suffer from recurrent shoulder dislocations, and there is a possibility of suffering nerve damage from a dislocation. A good orthopod might be able to help with some exercises to strengthen the supporting structures around your shoulder to minimize the risk of this happening again.
(IMHO, of course

• Quote

[Hazarrd 1]

Well I just got back from an orthopedic surgeon. I am scheduled to have an MRI on the shoulder next week. He said not to skydive until we know what is wrong, but I may just find the need to.

.-.

[berniev 0]

Been there done that. Have 2 shoulders that have disclocated left and right (And the more it happens the easier it is) For now the best you can do is Phisical therapy learn the exercises to biuld up the muscles around the joint to keep it into place and avoid it happening again.

Permanent damage is done each time it dislocates and surgery is the only option to truly correct the problem but it is a LONG recovery and the shoulder will never be the same again.

YES the surgery is worth it
You can reply back if you want details in Detail or try a few well known web sites on shoulder instability like http://www.orthop.washington.edu/faculty/Matsen/dislocation/01

it takes about 6 weeks to regain the strength to 100% and the pain subsides after a shorter time. Let it heal as best as it can before you jump as it is HIGHLY likely to happen again especially in skydiving where the basic box position is the most unstable position you can put your shoulder into.

A lot of athletes especially football and tennis have this happen since the extend thier arms in a similar manner outstretched and your elbow about 90 degrees above your head.

[benny 0]

I think freefall in the belly position must put a great deal of stress on the shoulders. I had an injury while playing flag football (yes that is flag) where i did some damage to my left shoulder (took 3 weeks before i had full range of motion back). Did my AFF1 two weeks ago and for a couple of days afterward the damn thing was sore.

Never go to a DZ strip show.

[Shawndiver 0]

Hey Hazzard,
A a ray of hope on this thread, I managed to fully dislocate my right shoulder many years ago during a paraglider launch. Got it popped back in the the ER, did the PT, strength training, acupuncture, and made sure it was FULLY healed before really stressing it again, and have not had a single problem with it since. You definitely should have it evaluated before loading it again, make sure its healed! Speedy recovery,

Shawn

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[Hazarrd 1]

Quote

Hey Hazzard,
A a ray of hope on this thread, I managed to fully dislocate my right shoulder many years ago during a paraglider launch. Got it popped back in the the ER, did the PT, strength training, acupuncture, and made sure it was FULLY healed before really stressing it again, and have not had a single problem with it since. You definitely should have it evaluated before loading it again, make sure its healed! Speedy recovery,

Shawn

thanks for the info. im going to cross keys to jump tomorrow, well see how things go. i asked the doctor if theres anyway to really know if i disclocated it. he said its very possible i didnt, but the MRI will show. so hopefully everything checks out ok.

.-.

[coffeejoe 0]

Hi there,

a friend of mine dislocated his right shoulder during
a solo jump around 1000ft. He turned around and laid on his back, and at 4000ft turned belly to earth and used his reserve. Months later he had surgery and he´s back jumping, no problems so far.

Good luck and take good care!

Ed

[chuteless 1]

A bunch of us did a jump from 12500 from a Britain Islander and on the way down, one guy's arm became dislocated. He managed to suffer through the jump, but the opening shock was horrendous. He landed and was rushed to hospital where they put it back in the socket. OUCH.

I crushed a vertebrae on the same jump when my feet clipped a 60 ft pine tree, allowing the chute to collapse. I recall falling through the tree and it seems I saw the canopy passing me. I landed flat on my back and my belly wart kept going as though it wanted to cut me in half

Someone mentioned ambulance, and I convinced a guy to pull me up...stiff as a board, and I walked out, and drove back to the hotel and into a hot bath.

OUCH Again

[brits17 0]

Here we go again...
First disloction came upon me bout 2 1/2 years ago, climbing out on the strut of a cessna, swung underneath it, and pop goes my right shoulder, backwards. i let go of the strut and it came back in place. since, i didn't have much problems but a year later, the loose shoulder came back to haunt me. a couple more dislocations, 1 in freefall and the other doing simple pull-ups in the army.

it had weakened and loosened to the point where no matter how much PT i did, no matter how strong i got it, it was beyond self-repair. it dislocated 3 more times in freefall and once under canopy and i finally quit jumping, saw a doctor and got the MRI. 2 large ligament tears, posterior rotator cuff. i had no other options but surgery if i wanted to continue jumping or playing any sport again. i got the surgery 8 months ago, am airborne again and now my shoulder is stronger than it has ever been.

moral of the story, get it checked ASAP and since its only dislocated once, i would start therapy on it right away. do as much PT and exercises as you can handle and get your rotater strong to prevent future reoccurances. good luck!

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