shoulder pressure and winsuit design/brand options

[romus 0]

I am starting to look at Wingsuits and would be interested in any info on shoulder pressure and wingsuit design/brand options.

I have an old shoulder injury that does not cause problems skyding, but I could imagine it coming back if I chose a wingsuit that is very hard on arm/shoulder pressure. Any info on which designs/brand options may be better or worse in this area would be helpful.

[Skwrl 56]

Talk to Ray Stone (stoney3434). He's had similar shoulder issues (his right shoulder, if I remember correctly) that he's been dealing with.

The usual suspects here will no doubt chime in, but I think that you'll probably want to stick with smaller suits, like a Tonysuit T-bird or a Phoenix Fly Phantom2 (at least to start - you may find it doesn't bother you as much as you'd think).

Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

[mccordia 73]

I think the suits with more wing at the end of the arm (long grippers) tend to add more pressure on the shoulder than short/no gripper models.
In general the pressure on the armwings is carried by the body for a large part as well, so pressure on the shoulder itself shouldnt be too bad.

I would be carefull with dives/flares though, as that does put a lot of strain on the shoulder.
But stick to the beginner/intermediate range from most manufacturers and it should be managable.

Though if waiting longer works as well...remember...waiting a few months more sucks...but jumping now and f&cking up your shoulder permanently sucks even more..

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[LukeH 0]

Hi,

I think it depends greatly on what the injury was. I've had 3 dislocation of the right shoulder - and eventually had surgery.
I've never found wingsuiting to be a problem. In fact I found that the limited range of motion caused by the wingsuit helps. The111 has previously commented that when he had an injured shoulder wingsuiting was the only discipline that wasn't sore.

I was flying a large suit (Vampire) withing 6 weeks of the first dislocation.

Talk to your physio.

[mccordia 73]

I forgot to also mention, for me it was a broken collar bone (hit the door on exit, freeflying is dangerous!).

After a few months of rest, I did 2 freefly jumps to 'try' and noticed the armstrain was quite a bit heavier than the one wingsuit jump I did after that.

I seems the wing (thats also attached to the body, and inflates) carries quite a bit of the weight. For me it was lighter than non-wingsuit jumps.

But like Luke sais...it probably depends on the type of injury.
I do wonder how a dislokated shoulder influences wingsuit flight btw. Could get ugly? Anyone any experiences there?

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[BIRDDOCTOR 0]

Ok, here is a medical opinion as i'm an orthopaedic surgeon.

I have limited information from the initial injury, your age and how many times you dislocated. The rule of thumb is a dislocation in a person less than 20 has an 80% chance of redislocation. As such, I tend to surgically repair these patients earlier than later when more dislocations occur. The most common type of dislocation is "Anterior", or to the front of the shoulder. I will focus my discussion on this type.
The most unstable position of a shoulder after an anterior dislocation is in the "position of throwing" where the arm is abducted(away from body), and externally rotated (rotated away from the body). During the main portion of a wingsuit flight the arms are abducted and internally rotated (rotated into the body). This internal rotation of the arm does give some stability to the shoulder joint, because the humeral head (ball) is focused on an area of the joint capsule that is not injured or excessively lax. If you were in full flight and you made an awkward movement to a throwing position you may become and AAD save statistic. The most likely problem is after deployment when your arms must go into the throwing position to grab your risers or toggles. If this is done with enough force you may dislocate again. This obviously would not be a great position to be in.
My rule of thumb for surgical intervention of a shoulder dislocation is age less than 20 with first dislocation or failure of rehab with more than 1 dislocation.
I hope this helps. Live Large:)

Base# 1638

[mccordia 73]

Quote

If you were in full flight and you made an awkward movement to a throwing position you may become and AAD save statistic.

Though a tumble and dislocated the right (wrong) shoulder would severly mess up your day, all handles on the front are always accesable for pulling, so no reason to become an AAD save statistic?

With a high-risk sport as skydiving, I personaly would see a permanent surgical solution (be it shitty to undergo) the safest option in the long run....

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[BIRDDOCTOR 0]

With shoulder dislocations the pain can be excessive. If you become too preoccupied with this pain, and the fact that your trying to understand what is going on you may lose altitude awareness. Yes, the reserve handle is easily accessable, but only if you are with it to grab it. Either way, issues like this need to be worked out on the ground not in the sky.

Base# 1638

[LukeH 0]

Perhaps I just got lucky each time, but adrenaline seems to do a good job of suppressing the pain until well after landing. After about 30mins it gets quite sore, so hope you are in hospital by then.

I wasn't sure it was dislocated the first time, just thought I'd pulled or broken something.

I was able to reach my PC but couldn't extract it, so went with emergency drill for a no-pull.

If you think you are prone to this problem, you could run through the drill, you could also include trying to reach your main with your left hand (depending on canopy) and flying and flaring your canopy with one hand.

[romus 0]

My injury (as I have referred to it) is worn cartilage from too much swimming (used to do open water swimming). There is some affect on arm nerves. I can feel it when I lift my arms up from my side, but the pain is not too much and I don't worry, except if i aggravate it such as sometimes after a jump I might feel it a bit (noticed when packing.

Hmm, interesting comments so far that some designs bring the bulk of the list closer to the body.

[roostnureye 2]

whatever way you decide to go i would just reccomend a newer style suit, with the "bird" cut, the improved air inlets keep most of the arm pressure on your body. the inlets that are close to your armpits will feel much better than older suits, also go with a small wing like everyone else says. i jump a medium sized suit and have tried some "bigwing" suits and they wore my arms out quick!!!

Flock University FWC / ZFlock
B.A.S.E. 1580
Aussie BASE 121

[mccordia 73]

Suits without grippers (no pressure or drag at all at the end of the wing), will most likely give the least stress possible on the shoulder. Inflation being a 2nd key aspect...

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?