Separated Shoulder
 

So, I had this 83 Fuji Espree parts bike I had picked up when building my wife's Univega Mixte Fixie. It was just lying around so I figured I'd build it and see how it comes out. After lots of lurking on here and a little sweat it came out quite nice.
Last week I decided to take it on my daily ride for its maiden voyage. It was about to rain and was getting windy. I picked up speed as I cruised back towards home. It was sprinkling kinda hard at this point and about 2 miles from home. Then low and behold a couple of city workers blocking my path. I swerved around them and got back on the sidewalk. I overshot my turn and my front tire got caught in between the sidewalk and the grass. I flew over the bars landing on my right side.
From what I gather I landed on the grass tumbled and then right back on my feet. The workers rushed over to check on me and pull the bike off of the sidewalk. Not a scratch or dent or bent part on the bike.
Me on the other hand. Grade 3 separated shoulder and 2 radial fractures on wrist and elbow. Luckily I landed well enough not to hit my head or the pavement.
I'm a week in and still feel like crap mostly due to a monster cast on my forearm. The bike has found a new home thanks to CL.
Anyone have any advice on getting this shoulder back on track?

Keep telling cool stories. Shoulders like that.

Don't ride on the sidewalk.
srsly.
It is truly dangerous ( as you have found out).

I lost my medical license from diddling women but I would suggest looking up rehab practices for that or see a doctor. Also Like [MENTION=168928]Cyril[/MENTION] said, don't ride on the sidewalk.

Lucky the pavement didn't get injured.

fixed

I had a grade III separation a couple years ago. Physical Therapy gave me exercises to do. It helped, and I can ride again with no limitations, but I can still tell that shoulder is not what it used to be.

i had this occur last November. i had surgery on it, its pretty much fully healed, but it doesnt look right. I have gotten full strength back in that arm shoulder but im sure in 20 years it will be a problem.

I personally found physical therapy to be a waste of time and money after like the first 3 weeks where all they did was stretch me. Plus i wasnt impressed with my surgeon or how he saw me for a total of 20 mins after my surgery during the 4 or 5 follow up visits i made.

Shoulders are a real bugger. I pulled my collar bone free years ago when I discovered that jumping motocross bikes was harder than it looked. Stretched ligaments. Took months to sort out. Had to sell my GSXR-1100 sports bike because I could no longer handle the aggressive riding position. Now, 20 years later, I still have to have my push bikes with handle bars at saddle height (though age is also a significant factor now) and still get numb hands driving a car. All the physiotherapy and other mucking about did little more than give therapists something to do while all the other funny machines achieved buggerall.

That's what I'm hoping for. To get full movement and be able to ride again soon. The bump isn't going away that part I know. I think it'll always have funny movement though.

I'm unsure where to begin...count your blessings that you did not hurt anyone else. How did the conversation with your wife go afterwards?

You may want to look into the possibility of surgery and see a doctor who is up to date on modern procedures. There is a doctor in Florida called James Guerra who performs a repair using arthrex "dogbone" implants.

Treatment of grade 3 is controversial in terms of surgery vs. no surgery. Also, there are many different surgical options, some of the traditional ones providing fairly bad outcomes. For instance they involve drilling large diameter holes in bone, cutting otherwise healthy shoulder ligaments, or shortening the clavicle itself. The end result is a repaired joint that is not very strong, and this is partly why the decision to operate on a grade 3 separation is controversial....because traditional operations were ****ty.