Returning to sport after shoulder injury

[P.T]

Hi,

I had a shoulder sublaxation/dislocation 4 weeks ago and am wanting to get back into sport asap!
I have fairly good strength in the arm - almost the same as the un-injured shoulder, and have full range of motion without pain.
I had originally been told 6-10 weeks of no sport at all however i was wondering whether i would be able to gradually start now?

Many Thanks

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[physiofixme]

I guess the big question here is what sport are you wanting to get back in to?? How did you dislocate your shoulder?? Also you wrote subluxation/dislocation.....it is probably important to establish the extent of the subluxation. Did it relocate itself or did it have to be relocated by yourself or someone else? How did the dislocation happen? Have you been doing any exercises or have you had any strengthening exercises suggested to you. Is this the first time this has happened?? If you could supply a bit more info we may be able to give you some ideas of where to go from here.

Many thanks.
Rachael
Rehabilitate prevent perform physiofixme

[P.T]

Hi,

Trampolining is the sport.

I have been doing strengthening exercises with tension bands for two weeks and basic movements before that.

It happened while coaching trampolining, I was catching a performer and their force was put against the arm. On previous occurrences it has happened when performing myself, on take off to a move.

I put it back in myself rolling onto my side and bringing right arm over towards left hip.

This is the third time it has happened, but was less painful (which led to thinking it was a subluxation) although it was harder to put back in than previously.

Many Thanks!

[physiobob]

Wow, so it is a recurrent dislocation/subluxation. It begs to ask the question..."To reconstruct or not?"....

I would say that the general consensus is that the more times you sublux/dislocate, the more you sublux/dislocate. Having an MRI to ascertain the level of damage to the labrum and integrity of the capsule/articular alignment and whether there is a case for repair. From a rehabilitation standpoint you really need to test the arm in the more vulnerable positions with similar forces to what you will experience in your sport. Passive range and therband are unlikely to be close enough to the real thing to say with confidence that you are ready. That said as least you are working in the right direction.

Let us know how you get on

[Perbast]

Eventually you will damage or "abuse" the capsule and other structures in your shoulder that it will start to bother you in your other daily activities. Therefore you need to find out if only your capsule is damaged or if the labrum, supraspinatus tendon, bicepstendon are OK. The highest risk of a dislocation of your shoulder is - dislocation of your shoulder. This means that once you'va had it and if there is no repair done - you will get it over and over again - with a higher and higher risk of permanent tissue damage. Good luck in your rehab - strengthening you rshoulder is ALWAYS helpful - but without pain.

[TheSportsPhysiotherapist]

Hi P.T,

It has been about 5 weeks since your post - how is the shoulder going?

Whilst I have nothing to add beyond what the guys have said above - you and the sports physio's reading this may find this article on this very topic interesting: http://bit.ly/azmH1V

Hope this helps!