Grade III Separation and Reconstructive Surgery
I know that this message board hasn't been commented on in years, but I feel my experience with AC separation may be useful to others.
In 2008, I completely separated my Left AC joint (Grade III). I submit that LIGAMENT TEARS have got to be in the top 5 most painful experiences a human can endure; mine included. It was WAY worse than breaking a bone (I've broken a few). B/c my shoulders are square-shaped the separation caused my clavical to stick up about 2 inches. It was an unsightly deformation. After three months of rehab I elected to have reconstructive surgery with a cadaver ligament. That pushed that ugly clavical back down. It was tade-off, now I have a 5 inch scar extending perpendicular to my calvical (yea, I know there are less invasive methods, but I didn't have much option, it was done by a military doctor. Yea, I know, they suck).
After surgery I was back to square-one. However, the smartest thing I did was never yeild on physical training. The week before my surgery I bought a $100 exercise bike on Craigslist. Surgery left me apartement bound; so I road the exercise bike every other day. I made sure blood pumped through that recently operated appendage, even if it caused much discomfort (however I avioded a strenuous pace if it caused pain). Days after riding my shoulder would feel much looser and less painful. I completely avoided "frozen shoulder", a common side-effect of keeping your shoulder immobile for extended periods of time. In addition, my doctor commented that my recovery time was well above average.
Presently (2011), I am back in the gym hitting the heavy weight. Does the injury still bother me? Yes, but I've learned to work around it and still get in a great workout. Thankfully I was smart enough to focus on intensive rehab so much in the first year, which aided in regaining my Range of Motion. On a side note, I know someone who also exprienced a Grade III separation in his High School days. He took the conservative route and never had surgery. Unfortunately, he coddled the shoulder. Favoring it has truncated his Range of Motion. I asked him to demonstrate his RoM, so he lift his Right arm (recruiting the injuried shoulder). He could not pass his arm above parallel with the floor. I reached out and lifted up on his right forearm testing his RoM (I wanted to see if he was faking. Unfortunately, he wasn't). To my amusement, he exclaimed his pain with a girlish yelp. I couldn't believe how poor his RoM had become (I mean, we're both in our twenties).
Back to my shoulder; when I lift these are the exercises that have been affected: bench, dips, any exercise with shoulders, traps, deadlifts, upper back, and bar curls (b/c one shoulder hangs slightly lower than the other). Each of these has been affected differently, with bench and dips being the most noticable. What I've noticed is that the front deltoid on the injuried shoulder has been devestated beyond what the body can return to normal. When the AC separates completely, many of the muscular connections of the front deltoid go with it. This is not to say that my front delt is gone, it is merely smaller and less powerful (as it has less connections). So when I try to perform an exercise like bench press the chest has to compensate. Unfortunately my left side fatigues far sooner than my right. I've learned to deal with it. I know when it is going to fatigue and I anticipate it. And I incorporate exercises that isolate each side to encourage balance. Right now I'm benching more than I every have before (b/c BB is all about diet/supps, rest, and form). Good luck to anyone suffering from this injury AND DON'T GIVE UP.
Class 3 AC separation November 2012
I have a class 3 AC separation, the injury happened in november of 2012 and I am now 5 months along, the end of my collar bone still sticks up when i hold my shoulder at some angles, but not badly and i suffer no pain doing normal everyday tasks. I have been back in the gym for 2 full weeks now and have been doing light chest (50-lb dumbbells as of today) with a little muscular soreness, but no real pain, and am dead-lifting 225-lb, none of this causing me any real pains or discomfort, just aches a little sometimes. I did not lift at all for about 4 months, and now even with a slight deformity, I feel no shifting of the clavicle while lifting, BUT there are some things i am taking slowly, like flys, shrugs, dips, and pull ups. Before my injury, i was lifting everyday and playing rugby, squatting 405, benching 275, and dead-lifting 365, i feel pretty confident that, with the way my recovery has gone so far, I will eventually be able to be as physically active as i was before. Though I am currently in the weight room, my goal is to progress myself far enough to endure high intensity, body weight workouts, and maybe take my training in a different direction than before. Good luck to the rest of you, dont rush it.
AC Separation 8 Months Out
This is a very interesting thread. I thought I'd add my experience to it as well.
Rewind to Thanksgiving 2012. Visiting the folks' ranch and out on a four-wheeler I used to fly around on every day in high-school, a power-slide went awry and I ended up under a 580lb ATV. I took the handle bars to my upper chest. That fractured my top four ribs, partially collapsed one lung, and tore my right AC joint nearly to the point of full separation. The docs weren't too concerned with my shoulder at the initial hospital stay but said I would realize how painful it was once my ribs started to heal and I started wanting out of my sling more. Later the ortho surgeon took his pictures and told me I would have to choose between a pretty big lump or a surgery scar. He gave me a bit of medical tubing and showed me some exercises I could do by hooking that to a door handle. "Do those for four or five months and then schedule a follow-up."
Today. I had started to use my little band after almost a month (when the ribs stopped being incredibly painful) and I have now recovered about 75% of my prior strength. I have not done my follow-up because up to now I've seen pretty steady improvement and reduction in pain on my own. I have 90-95% of my left arm's RoM and am not afraid to lift weights moderately with the injured shoulder. I am now at the point of trying to make that decision regarding the lump versus a surgery scar. Health insurance/paying isn't an issue, but my concern is if it will be worth the post-surgery setback I will experience. Either way, I'm due for another visit to an orthopedic surgeon.
Good luck to everyone that is also dealing with this issue of continuing his/her exercise-full lifestyle post AC joint separation.
Grade 3 AC separation 4 weeks in from accident
Hey guys sorry to post on such an old thread but I'm just looking for advice or help of some kind as I am going out of my mind at this point... on the 24th of Feb 2016 I separated my right shoulder in a motorcycle accident. Shoulder took the brunt of the impact at about 50 mph or so I'd guess. Went to ER said I had a ac separation no help really. Saw an ortho 2 weeks after accident. He looked at xrays said it was a grade 3 and looked at me and said asked me to move my shoulder as far up and around as I could. At this point I had good range of motion with almost no pain so he said I seemed to be healing well. He said if I didn't feel better in a month to come see him again. It has not been a week and a half from seeing him and about 3 and a half weeks in from accident. I feel good with almost zero pain but what gets me is I feel unstable. I can feel the end of clavicle moving around or something in my shoulder if I move fast or quickly or pick something up off the ground like my keys and come up fast... it feels like something moves in my shoulder most likely the collar bone at the AC joint... I just wanted to know your guys experience because I am an addictive person and Rivendell I want this to heal and set still and not move anymore because I want to get back to doing things normally... will it ever set and not move at the slightest quick movement? Will things scar back together or with the ligaments reattach? I can't handle not knowing if it will be okay ever again without surgery. I feel no pain but again I can feel the bones moving freely and it is uncomfortable and I want it to set in place already. It's only been about a month from the accident so how long will it take to stay in place and scar together? Do you guys have any advice on how long it took for your grade 3 separation? I'm starting to lose my mind and be depressed because I feel no pain barely and want to use my arm a little but then the bones starts slipping and sliding in my shoulder and it feels wrong. Any help or advice on time to heal and if you guys felt your collar bone moving like that and how long it took it to stop or did it stop would be appreciated. Thanks
Grade 3 AC separation 4 weeks in from accident
I am 4 weeks and from my accident and it is healing pretty well pain is very minimal here and there when I make sudden movements. The thing that has been bothering me lately is that I feel my collarbone and moving around in my shoulder when I make sudden movements like picking Keys up off the floor and then bending back up or twisting my body quickly to turn or reaching for something quickly and the bone kind of like slides around or just moves out of place with the force or gravity. This means that it's still not scarred back to anything or the ligaments are reattached at all if any. I was just wondering if this happened to any of you guys because I am feeling a lot better with the pain but I am really irritated by the fact that I feel my shoulder moving around or my collar bone moving around on its own. Did any of you experienever this bone moving still at about month in? Will it ever stabilize and heal???? These are my biggest concerns. Like I said it's just the bone is kind of moving at the end between the collarbone and the shoulder and you can feel it and it feels unsteady has any of this ever happened to you? How long should I wait to get into physical therapy??? I try to get back in the gym as much as I can just leg stuff though. I went from hitting 300 on bench too I don't know what now because I haven't tried any upper body stuff. Arms and shoulders and tries I used to be really strong at but I have no idea now my body is atrophied a lot in these four weeks. Thanks for the help