I was riding today and I hit the water in a akward way and my shoulder felt stuck in this weird position, It was sticking out but it felt like it was sitting lower than normal. I popped it back to where it needed to be and I was fine. <BR> <BR>The thing I'm confused about is I'm fairly certain shoulder dislocations are very painful and the only pain I had was when it felt out of place. It felt fine when I popped it back but it just feels really sore now. Did I halfway dislocate it or something? <BR> <BR>I should mention I had to stop working out a few weeks ago cuz my shoulder started hurting pretty bad. I thought lifting weights was supposed to help my joints and muscles not make them worse.

You can have a subluxation, which is when the shoulder goes parting out. <BR> <BR>They are painful, but pale in comparison to a full blown dislocation.

Darren, sounds like a subluxation of your shoulder to me.

yeah that sucks dude! haha i did it twice this winter snowboarding! just take it easy on that shoulder, and when it doesnt hurt anymore do light excerises on your shoulder to rebuild the muscles you f'd up when your shoulder popped out. try and make it a routine because now that your shoulder has popped out and your muscles and tendons are stretched it can happen again way easier if you don't do anything to prevent it again in the future! good luck bro!

When your shoulder dislocates the ligaments and the joint capsule will stretch to some extent, depending on how long it was out for, that is probably what is causing your pain now. <BR> <BR>Take it easy on the weights for a while. Try very small weights and very small movements to begin with, just make very small circles with your arms extended graduating to larger movements when you feel comfortable. This will build up the muscles that support the shoulder joint. <BR> <BR>If you have power bands or a cable machine available try these too. Stand side on to the cable with your forearm parallel to the ground, thumb up, pull the cable across your body towards the opposite hip keeping your forearm parallel to the floor, you should feel it in your chest and anterior deltoid (front of the shoulder) then go the other way and pull the cable out and away from your body, this one should target the muscles around your shoulder blade and the posterior deltoid (back of the shoulder). <BR> <BR>The bicep also stabilises the shoulder joint to some extent, so doing exercises like pull ups (when you are ready, it will probably hurt at this stage) should help to strengthen the muscles that stabilise the joint as well. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by jtnz on May 06, 2009)

Thanks for the help. It was definitely frustrating to me but I suppose it could have been a lot worse. <BR> <BR>Thanks for the exercise tips Jos I'll give those a shot. I would really like to keep this from happening again.

No problem, forgot to mention try to keep your upper arm tight against your body when you're doing the cable exercises, one other thing you can do is tuck a pillow under your arm and squeeze against it, hold for a few seconds then release. Static exercises like that help to strengthen the muscles in certain positions. <BR> <BR>Also when you get back to riding try to keep your arm in close to your body when you fall if you can, that should help prevent reinjuring the shoulder. Eventually it will become automatic.

there's no "cure" for a subluxation. i have it happen to both my shoulders. the doctors i've seen have all said that surgery's an option, but it's not a guaranteed fix. you can exercise, rehab and work it out, but i can almost guarantee that it'll "pop out" again.

In my case after having each shoulder dislocate at least once a month for > 5 years I have never popped out post surgery. If you do the same thing that injured your shoulder in the first place you will have problems again...

i had this problem with my left shoulder last summer...popped it out doing a three just like you...not all the way but enough that i had to move my arm to pop it back in...it was sore but didnt think much of it. then it happened a month or two later...and eventaully it just would start to happen more and more. Bascially i ended up having to go to the doctor because i knew it wasnt right...ended up with stretched ligiments and a torn labrim. I had to due surgery to fix it and tighten everything back up. My shoulder is fine now but the 3 months of rehab sucked. And now i have the same problem with my right shoulder and i just keep putting off the surgery because i dont want to go through the rehab again. But really if it keeps happening get it looked at. With this situation you can have one of the two things that i had or both, like me hah

My shoulder hasn't dislocated once in the 6 years after having surgery. The year before I had surgery I popped it, was in a sling for a month, basically the day I got out of the sling it popped again, for 5 months in a row.

FML

i would definitely be easy on it. i dislocated mine 4 times in a year and 3 months. i then had the surgery and did the rehab. after the rehab i wakeboarded on it for 2 months and snowboarded in colorado for 6 months while i lived there and it was fine. then i moved back home and started the wake season and was good for about 3 months and popped it out on a 3. whether its surgery, rest, rehab or whatever you can still dislocate again if put in that vulnerable position. i have been working out hard and got a new brace so hopefully i'll be good this season. good luck with yours though.

thanks, when yall say they popped out on 3s were yall landing wrapped?

you will want to strengthen all of the muscles that act on your shoulder (escpecially the rotator cuff and your other back muscles) do high reps and light weight...if you lift alot i would stay away for the bench press and stuff like that for awhile then work back into it with the lights weights <BR> <BR> <BR>therabands work really good for rotator cuff strengthening <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/rotator-cuff-home-rehabilitation-exercises" target="_blank">http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/rotator-cuff-home-rehabilitation-exercises</a> this site has some good strengthening stuff and explains it pretty well

yo dude dont worry about it definalty popping out again! there is NO guarantee it will happen again! just do the exercises and be carefull about falling on it! Ive eaten sh*t so many times on my snowboard since popping out my shoulders and I have been fine, granted i have been doing the exercises for some time now.

I blew out my should 4 years ago, had surgery, and it's starting to pop out again. I recently purchased a Donjoy shoulder brace and I'd highly recommend it if you have constant shoulder issues on the water. <a href="http://www.donjoy.com/index.asp/fuseaction/products.detail/cat/9/id/147" target="_blank">http://www.donjoy.com/index.asp/fuseaction/products.detail/cat/9/id/147</a> I tried one of the EVS shoulder braces and it was crap.

Thanks for the help guys. I guess I'll try to rehab it myself and if I end up having major problems I'll get surgery eventually.

<a href="http://www.shoulderhorn.com" target="_blank">www.shoulderhorn.com</a> <BR> <BR>Get one, and do the exercises 2x per week. It takes 5 minutes to do....and will greatly improve the stability of your shoulder. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by kitewake on May 09, 2009)