fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
As I've just had this done I'd thought I would share for any others who may need this doing in future.
It's not uncommon for sports folk to get problems with shoulders, and the most common cause for cyclists is, of course, falling off onto your shoulder, or in my case, I was knocked off.
What effectively happens is that the space within your shoulder get's compressed, and due to injury bone spurs form, causing irritation to the soft tissues (muscles/ligaments and tendons) within the shoulder.
The operation generally involves key hole surgery with an arthroscope through two or three small incisions.
The surgeon will generally go in, look for abrasions, tears and bone spurs and 'fix it'.
I my case the surgeon removed a number of spurs and scuffed areas by 'burring' the bone and smoothing it. Whilst in there he also repositioned my coracoacromial ligament (I'll know more tomorrow - but I suspect the crash impact shifted it 'behind' something, rather than being 'infront').
I won't go into the detail about the two plus years it's taken to get it repaired, other than being a stubborn fairly fit 'cyclist' who won't put the bike down doesn't help the diagnosis.
The hospital was rather 'efficient' with the ops - walked down into a preparation ward, a number of us jumped into various beds and we were then wheeled off to various theatres (felt a bit like the 'Avatar' film). Into the anaesthetic room, quick chat, line in and out zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Woke up in recovery two hours later at about 4pm.
Had three incisions which had been left open as they inject a few litres of fluid into your shoulder during the op - had a messy pillow and a big bandage on. 4-5 hours after the op I was allowed to go home as I had recovered fine. Off came the bandage and on went some 'waterproof dressings'.
One thing you do get is a nerve block, which basically numbs your entire arm - i.e. it's effectively dead. This takes about 24 hours to clear, and you get movement back in your hand first. As the muscles aren't able to hold the joint, it feels like it will dislocate if you move it.
First night home was a bit rough as you aren't sure what to do with this dead arm. Felt OK 24 hours later, but was knackered and in a bit of pain so was in bed by 6.30pm.
Day 2 (today) felt much better and movement started coming back to my shoulder - still feels a little loose (i.e. like it will dislocate). Pain is much reduced, and as the hours have gone on, the shoulder has loosened up.
Anyway, here is a photo of the wounds 48 hours after - pretty neat 'eh.
It's not uncommon for sports folk to get problems with shoulders, and the most common cause for cyclists is, of course, falling off onto your shoulder, or in my case, I was knocked off.
What effectively happens is that the space within your shoulder get's compressed, and due to injury bone spurs form, causing irritation to the soft tissues (muscles/ligaments and tendons) within the shoulder.
The operation generally involves key hole surgery with an arthroscope through two or three small incisions.
The surgeon will generally go in, look for abrasions, tears and bone spurs and 'fix it'.
I my case the surgeon removed a number of spurs and scuffed areas by 'burring' the bone and smoothing it. Whilst in there he also repositioned my coracoacromial ligament (I'll know more tomorrow - but I suspect the crash impact shifted it 'behind' something, rather than being 'infront').
I won't go into the detail about the two plus years it's taken to get it repaired, other than being a stubborn fairly fit 'cyclist' who won't put the bike down doesn't help the diagnosis.
The hospital was rather 'efficient' with the ops - walked down into a preparation ward, a number of us jumped into various beds and we were then wheeled off to various theatres (felt a bit like the 'Avatar' film). Into the anaesthetic room, quick chat, line in and out zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Woke up in recovery two hours later at about 4pm.
Had three incisions which had been left open as they inject a few litres of fluid into your shoulder during the op - had a messy pillow and a big bandage on. 4-5 hours after the op I was allowed to go home as I had recovered fine. Off came the bandage and on went some 'waterproof dressings'.
One thing you do get is a nerve block, which basically numbs your entire arm - i.e. it's effectively dead. This takes about 24 hours to clear, and you get movement back in your hand first. As the muscles aren't able to hold the joint, it feels like it will dislocate if you move it.
First night home was a bit rough as you aren't sure what to do with this dead arm. Felt OK 24 hours later, but was knackered and in a bit of pain so was in bed by 6.30pm.
Day 2 (today) felt much better and movement started coming back to my shoulder - still feels a little loose (i.e. like it will dislocate). Pain is much reduced, and as the hours have gone on, the shoulder has loosened up.
Anyway, here is a photo of the wounds 48 hours after - pretty neat 'eh.
