AC Joint dislocation

[Retrorobb]

Hi

so recently started riding track and got caught up in a bit of a crash where the rider in front of me touched wheels with another rider and they went down, i was left with nowhere to go but straight into their bike!! which sent me over the bars and crashing to the asphalt floor, there's no give in that i can tell you lol... this resulted in me going to hospital with a suspect broken collar bone which lucky just turned out to be an ac joint dislocation. so it been almost two weeks and most of the pain has gone away and i have a fair bit of movement back in my shoulder, now the doctors have said that i wont need surgery and it should recover well, just wondering what other peoples experiences with this injury have been ???

[CXCommuter]

have had moderate tears/partial dislocation (Grade 2?) in both AC Joints from OTB stacks on MTB's, blasted painful at first but most recovery occurred quickly (say 2-3 weeks) but took about 8-10 weeks before I got "normal" stability back in the joint. No issues now but do have two matching lumps on top of each shoulder.

[softy]

Been there done that, mine was cat 3, which is borderline for surgery. Decided to have it fixed.

Plate went in, 3 months later, plate came out..... physio followed, 5 months later all good and no lump in my shoulder.

[A_P]

Grade 2's in both shoulders twice each...eventually i will break something i think.
Reasonable recovery with most of them , last one has been troublesome mostly i think due to training too much on an injury.
Follow the exercises they give you and see a physio if you are concerned but generally speaking i have retuned to normal ROM and strength.

[dzzmzz]

I've recently done my AC joint. Like the original poster, I went over the handle bars, got a weird lump. 10 days of leaving in a sling and off to the docs tomorrow to find out what happens next. Pain is only in certain arm positions but getting better all the time.

OP - if you're sitll watching this thread, how long was it til you were riding a bike again?

I've suppose to be training for 3 Peaks at Falls but this has temporarily sidelined me. Wondering if it will heal in time to get some decent training in.

[Red Rider]

I've suppose to be training for 3 Peaks at Falls but this has temporarily sidelined me. Wondering if it will heal in time to get some decent training in.

6 weeks before the 5 Dams, which is a similar event to 3 Peaks, did a stage 2-3 dislocation, no surgery. After 2 weeks I went to the gym and used the stationary bike, at 2.5 weeks I did a 4 hour stationary ride (while watching tour videos, great fun!) and a week later I was on the road with the group again, although still a little uncomfortable. It was actually easier to ride a bike than to just stand around as the weight of the arm was taken off the shoulder with hand on handle bar. By the time I did the 5 Dams, there was no issue riding.

In terms of overall recovery it took a good 12 months for the muscles to regain full strength again, if I was doing something intensive like digging a hole, a my lower deltoid would get sore and tired. No problems any more about 1.5 years on.

[dzzmzz]

Thanks for that perspective Red Rider. It's now over three weeks since I did mine. I'm still recovering and can run again with a bit of stiffness. The shoulder is still pretty weak and I can't sleep on one side and lifting this is painful but I'm going to get back into stationary bike training this week and hopefully be back group riding in a week or two.

Looking into getting a shoulder strap like this one:

https://www.optomo.com.au/product/deroy ... review_tab" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To give my shoulder a bit more support while riding without the need to get it strapped all the time. I wonder if anyone else has used similar straps and if they're at all useful.

[Red Rider]

(I'm no doctor but...) I don't think that strap would be much help with this injury as it looks to be pushing inwards on the shoulder blade to under the clavicle. I found it better that the shoulder blade is pushed up from below, such as a sling does or resting the hand on handle bar. A sports doctor or physio may know a better method of support.

[Ozzyb4]

I suffered a similar fate in a crash on Melbourne Cup day in a Crit, and I also was training for 3 Peaks. Am seeing a cycling specific Physio next week to try to get good advice early on regarding how to heal the shoulder.
CT scan showed 7mm widening of the AC joint. Sounds a lot to me. Also broke a few ribs and had a pneumothorax.
Am hoping to get back on the trainer for some short and slow and most likely fairly upright spinning from next week

Any tips for recovery would be welcomed

[koshari]

had a similar injury ( not as bad as yours it would seem) when about 12 years ago i came off the KDX and a small eucalyptus was kind enough to halt my slide, shoulder popped and pretty much went back in straight away, wasn’t terribly painful while i was still warm but that changed when i cooled down. its came good after a while but more recently when sleeping i can roll onto that shoulder and its quite unpleasant, i dont think the ligaments ever fully recover after being stretched.