Wind Tunnel Shoulder Injury

[kalexeenko 0]

Hey-

I am new to skydiving and started my PFF (AFF in the rest of the world) at Skyventure Montreal. I had a 20 minutes to learn the basics of freefall. We were working in 2 minute blocks and every time upon exiting the tunnel I felt like my should had somewhat popped out of place and I had to turn it to put it back in.

10 minutes in I just couldn't take it anymore my shoulder was so sore. Now I am injured and unable to lift my arm at all without pain. I am a bit discouraged because I wasn't able to complete my time, although my coach gave me the go ahead to start jumping I am worried about my arm reacting the same way to actual skydiving.

Just wanted to see if anyone else had this problem in the tunnel- I think it may just have been because I reached for the door too soon and the pressure from the wind.

Blue Skies!

[adagen 0]

It's not uncommon to pull shoulder muscles by reaching for the door rather than flying right up to it before you grip the edge. If you think about it, you can go backwards by stretching your arms forward and that's exactly what happens if you grab for the door rather than flying up to it. You put your body in a position where it tries to move backwards and at the same time you try and stop it by gripping the door.

Can't advise on how it would affect you when jumping but if you have ongoing problems I would suggest seeing a doctor or physiotherapist.

Anne

[wan2doit 6]

After 6 initial minutes in the tunnel in Orlando I went back a few months later for a 30 minute overnite camp which was 4 of us in the tunnel doing 6 - 2.5 minute flights in rotation, then a one hour break , then 6 more 2.5 minute rotations.

I had been doing exercises prior to the camp so thought I would be fine but was surprised.

After 7.5 minutes my shoulders were killing me but it wasn't an out of position feeling but a burning sensation down in the joint. I made it through the 1st session thinking I might not be able to complete the 2nd. Mentioned my problem to the coach and he said we were doing quite a bit of flying and soreness can happen.

I did a bunch of shoulder and back stretching during the one hour break and continued on to finish the camp but knew I had done something more physical than I expected.

For 2 days I felt like I had a bad hangover w/o the head pains but w/shoulder soreness.

I kept up my exercises throughout the next 90 days and went to another camp for 30 more minutes recently. Much different results - no shoulder pain whatsoever at the halfway point or at all the whole night.

So in my case I think exercises with an increased focus on shoulder strength and flexibility exercises seemed to pay off big time.

To reiterate though my problem was a burning slightly painful sensation in both shoulders that was more of a distracting irritant than debilitating situation possibly brought on by me improperly flying with my arms straight and out to my sides 90 degrees almost the whole time rather than in front of my head. That might have put heavier wind loads on the shoulder joints.

On the other hand I corrected my arm position problem during the 2nd camp I attended and possibly (I don't know for sure) maybe began flying while more efficiently using my muscles by the body learning on it's own as I became more solid belly flying.

If I had been having to put my shoulder back into position though I would have done what u did plus GO TO a Doctor to at a minimum to check for structural damage (minor?? partial) dislocation if there is such a thing.

Hopefully this helps you.