Sternoclavicular dislocation (collarbone dislocation)

[kreplin123]

Hello everybody
I have been dealing with injuries for more than a year now. One of my injuries is a anterior sternoclavicular dislocation. This is when the end of your collarbone below your neck is popping up when you raise your arm over your head and goes back to its original place when you put your arm back down. My collarbone gives out a loud popping feeling and noise when it does this which really really really annoys me . You can also see my collarbone going up and down under my skin when it does this. I had this injury doing pull ups and have it on both sides. So I went to many doctors about this case and they said there wasn't much to do about it. It has a surgery but there is a risk that the surgery can be unsuccessful and you will have an L shaped scar on your chest (and at this point I am so sick of it that I may not even care about the scar). My collarbone dislocates whenever I do stuff like flies or db presses etc. I did PT but it didn't work. I am also aiming to be in the swimming team in college and this problem interferes with my swimming too and the doctors say that this problem may keep me from doing competitive sports.
Is there anyone who has or has had the same problem, got it fixed etc ?
Any opinions on the surgery ??
Thanks for any help.

[r3flexion]

Hi,

Was the joint dislocated or subluxed? Dislocated means it goes out and stays out, until a surgeon performs a reduction to get it back in place. In a slubluxation, it pops out momentarily, then goes back in. How long were you required to rest for before commencing rehab?

I suffered a subluxed joint about 4 months ago doing dips. The joint has lost some stability and will also sublux when I do certain motions.

By all means, go and see as many orthopedic surgeons as you can, because my information may not be 100% correct. However, as far as I am aware, there is little that can be done. For a start, this is an extremely rare injury. Most of the time it happens from car or football accidents and accounts for only ~3% of shoulder girdle injuries. Your first option is to have hardware put in. However, this is a terrible idea as the pins are almost guaranteed to break and may kill you if they do. Your second option is to have a resection and your third option is to have a graft. See images below:

http://www.eorthopod.com/images/Cont..._surgery01.jpg
http://www.eorthopod.com/images/Cont..._surgery02.jpg

Regardless of which of these methods is used, you will have limited range of motion in your shoulder. Needless to say, sports will be out of the question. Hence, surgeons do not like doing these procedures unless it is painful or a posterior dislocation. Posterior dislocations put you at risk of dying, as your collarbone can mess up alot of arteries and nerves. You must also factor in that many shoulder surgeons may have never even done this procedure in their entire career, let alone have great expertise in it.

In my oppinion, you should consider yourself lucky that you can even go to the gym at all. Many people who have these dislocations have no/minimal use of their entire shoulder afterwards. I think you need to reconsider your sporting activities. Every time your joint subluxes, you will be damaging cartiledge and tissues. This will put you at risk of arthritis as the joints wear down and will put you at further risk of dislocation. Once these connective tissues have lost their strength entirely, or you have arthritis, you will have extreme pain and no choice other than to have surgery. If I were you, I would immediately stop all activities which cause the joint to sublux.

Below are some exercises I have stopped doing entirely:
All overhead shoulder presses
All chest fly motions
All vertical lat motions (pullups)
Heavy chest motions
Any heavy exercises putting pressure on your shoulders (squats, deadlifts)
Upright rows

Here are some of the exercises I believe are safe:
Dumbell bench press
Lateral raise
Front raise
Rear delt raise
All horizontal rows

Do all your chest/back/shoulder exercises with limited range of movement. Eg. only the middle 60-70%. Use light weights and high reps (~20).

I know it's gay, but you have to realise you have a serious injury now. You need to look after it and cannot expect to do things you did before. This is life. If you continue to do things the same way as you were before, your injury will get worse.

I don't want to get your hopes up, or put you on some wild ideas... but the longer you can avoid those surgeries, the better. It is possible that within the next 15 years, stem cell technology will be advanced enough for use in human tendon repair. It already exists for horses and other animals. If you get surgery, the medial end of your clavicle will be removed entirely, making future medical advances useless for you. Be smart and play it safe.

[kreplin123]

r3flexion thanks for the great tips I really appreciate your help.
My collarbones (on both sides) dislocate in certain movements and come back down in other movements, all the doctors I have went to (about 13 orthopedic surgeons + some physiotherapists) said that it was a dislocation (anterior). The doctors say that mine was caused because of ligamentous laxity which means too much flexibility, all the surgeons said that the surgery was rare although one of these (a pretty experienced one) who used sternoclavicular fixation using tendon graft often in some of his surgeries said that he could do it.
I am already in the way of having 2 surgeries (one from my shoulder arthroscopically and another from my elbow open) this summer which I'm actually looking forward to since the pain I'm going through is interfering with everyday activities.
As you said I will be cautious while doing sports due to this injury but I will also be searching for the right fixation method and the right experience to fix my injury meanwhile.
I had about 3 months of nothing before going into rehab when this happened and never did quality sports again.
How did your injury happen and is it better now ?
did you do rehab for it ?

[edwin1234]

Hello everybody
I have been dealing with injuries for more than a year now. One of my injuries is a anterior sternoclavicular dislocation. This is when the end of your collarbone below your neck is popping up when you raise your arm over your head and goes back to its original place when you put your arm back down. My collarbone gives out a loud popping feeling and noise when it does this which really really really annoys me . You can also see my collarbone going up and down under my skin when it does this. I had this injury doing pull ups and have it on both sides. So I went to many doctors about this case and they said there wasn't much to do about it. It has a surgery but there is a risk that the surgery can be unsuccessful and you will have an L shaped scar on your chest (and at this point I am so sick of it that I may not even care about the scar). My collarbone dislocates whenever I do stuff like flies or db presses etc. I did PT but it didn't work. I am also aiming to be in the swimming team in college and this problem interferes with my swimming too and the doctors say that this problem may keep me from doing competitive sports.
Is there anyone who has or has had the same problem, got it fixed etc ?
Any opinions on the surgery ??
Thanks for any help.

Hi, I might be a little too late on this thread, but I believe this information can be great help to you.
Find a doctor in your area who performs "Prolotherapy". It is a type of treatment which is much better than surgery. They inject a special solution into the joint which acts as a signal transmitter and tells your body to heal the joint. It is now a very popular type of treatment practiced by over 500 doctors in america. A very good doctor I know who does this is Anthony Galea. There have been many Sternoclavicular instabilities I have read about which have been healed by prolotherapy. Look it up on youtube, it works like a miracle, it tells your body to heal itself.
Let me know how your shoulders doing.

[crisscross1234]

Hello everybody
I have been dealing with injuries for more than a year now. One of my injuries is a anterior sternoclavicular dislocation. This is when the end of your collarbone below your neck is popping up when you raise your arm over your head and goes back to its original place when you put your arm back down. My collarbone gives out a loud popping feeling and noise when it does this which really really really annoys me . You can also see my collarbone going up and down under my skin when it does this. I had this injury doing pull ups and have it on both sides. So I went to many doctors about this case and they said there wasn't much to do about it. It has a surgery but there is a risk that the surgery can be unsuccessful and you will have an L shaped scar on your chest (and at this point I am so sick of it that I may not even care about the scar). My collarbone dislocates whenever I do stuff like flies or db presses etc. I did PT but it didn't work. I am also aiming to be in the swimming team in college and this problem interferes with my swimming too and the doctors say that this problem may keep me from doing competitive sports.
Is there anyone who has or has had the same problem, got it fixed etc ?
Any opinions on the surgery ??
Thanks for any help.

Are you still asking?

[fuckeverything]

hey guys...if ur still not better and its popping out look into PROLOTHERAPY like edwin mentioned

what it does is triggers the bodys natural healing process and brings blood to damaged tissue/cartilage that normally doesnt get much of any at all

it has worked for many who have suffered from this as well as other injuries to cartilage/tissue as well

[intelezsolution]

The importance in determining the direction of dislocation is emphasised by the dichotomy of management. Hence, a thorough history and examination, especially looking for evidence of compression of retrosternal structures, is paramount. Specialised sternoclavicular X-ray views should be supplemented by CT/MRI if clinical suspicion is high. Posterior dislocations necessitate prompt orthopedic referral.