How to Fix A Dislocated Shoulder
December 31, 2009 by Shaun
Filed under The Fitness Bug
If you were to ask me what the top 5 greatest pains that I have ever experienced are, then having a dislocated shoulder would rank very high on that list. For the past decade or so that I have been training, this is the injury that has set me back the most throughout my muscle building endeavors. Every time that I have managed to reach a mile stone, whether it is building for strength or size, this is the injury that has**************************************** W A I T B E F O R E Y O U G O ! CLICK THE CANCEL BUTTON RIGHT NOW TO STAY ON THE CURRENT PAGE. I HAVE SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL FOR YOU! ************************************ stopped me in my tracks EVERY single time.
Yes, I may sound pissed off. That’s because I am. The reason for that is because this injury initially happened to me once… just ONCE.
How?
From being too quick for my own good during sprint training back as an athlete. A technique I would use for a quick start would be to begin in a press up position, shoot up and off straight from the position into the sprint. I naturally became really fast after a while. Then one day I decided to up the ante and move SUPER fast. So that was,
1) Press up position
2) Shoulder up and out on take off
3) Then over and forward
And BAM! First time ever my shoulder falls out of its socket.
And since that day it has popped out numerous times and at very unexpected times. Times when my muscles were about to explode in size from all the hard work at the gym. Yes, I managed to strengthen my delts from working out and building muscle (Which helped a lot). But all it takes is for you body to be positioned the incorrect way in alignment with your shoulder for your shoulder to fall out its socket.
Many have suffered this same injury and some deal with it better than others. But for the first few years I couldn’t figure out how to put my shoulder straight back in when it came out. The problem with that is the longer your shoulder stays out of your socket, the more damage will be done once you do manage to get it back in (And the harder it will be to get it back in).
(What a b***h)
There were even times I had to go to the hospital for them to slip it back in. Inhaling morphine and all of that nonsense. If you are physically active in the gym or in sport then I will now show you just how to get your shoulder back in place and how to repair the damage.
The Fix
The moment that your shoulder comes out, it will give you a shock. You will most likely be scared, panic and probably think that your arm is about to fall right off. The bad thing about this is that in order for your shoulder to go back in, you will have to relax. How can you relax when you are panicking and in pain? You can’t, but you will have to learn how to.
What you need to do is twist your body around so that you are either sitting upright in a chair, or laying flat on your back. Once you do that, you must then lock your dislocated shoulder/ arm vertically by your side, as close as you can. Once you do that, like magic, your shoulder should pop right back in.
It really is that simple. The hardest part is getting into position and allowing yourself to relax.
The Aftermath
As long as you have managed to get your shoulder back in as quick as possible, you shouldn’t be in too much pain. However, your muscles will still be sore. Because of this you will probably have to take a week out from the gym. Yes, that is a real bummer. But you are better off repairing yourself than risking possible further injury.
The key point here is that you MUST get your shoulder back in place as quick as you can. The shorter the time it’s out, the shorter the injury time will be. The longer the time it’s out, the longer the injury time will be.
If you ever do face this injury then these are the rules to follow. As long as you do, then this injury will plague your life no more.
Have you dislocated your shoulder before?
See you in the comments.
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I haven’t personally dislocated my shoulder but I was there when my martial arts instructor did it. It was scary man. I have never seen anyone in as much pain as that before.
He was trying to kick me when his back foot slipped out. He landed on his elbow and his shoulder popped out.
But it wasn’t something you could just slip back into place easily.
I saw the x-rays afterwards. The end of his bone was buried in his chest.
The nurses said it was one of the worst ones they’ve ever seen.
Sounds traumatic. I too can agree that it is one of the worst injuries that one can ever experience. But if it does happen, that person can use the technique above to put their shoulder back into place.
This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing websites that understand the value of providing a prime resource for free. I truly loved reading your post. Thanks!
I simply wanted to say your website is one of the nicely laid out, most inspirational I have come across in quite a while. Thx!
Thanks Jen
Valuable info. Lucky me I found your site by accident, I bookmarked it.
I’m glad you find all the info useful
Just bookmarked this site with my jumptags account .. thanks
i was googling this and your picture popped up. Just seeing it brought me right back to the pain like it was Yesterday. I dislocated my shoulder 5 years ago, and since then have dislocated MANY more times. The worst part is how utterly UN-normal it feels for it to be out. such a frustrating injury! But since working out with weights, it has changed a lot. good info and interesting read. thanks!
Hi Tara
This injury has haunted me for years. Not so often any more, but for the first few years my shoulder would pop out at the most inconvenient moments. However, after some experience, I gained true insight knowledge of how to correct the issue. Which is of course evident on this page. If you do still suffer from this injury,, do follow what you read here. Because it works! Every time too.
I first dislocated my shoulder about 4 years ago while playing sports. It was the worst feeling in the world and also the most pain ive ever been in. Since then i dislocated the same shoulder twice within 2 weeks of eachother and have had an operation to correct the damage. The damage to the cartiledge,ligament,tendants and muscles was soo bad that my shoulder could not stay in anymore and needed surgery to be fixed. Today i am 8 months since the operation and am feeling great although i have limited movement(from the block due to screws and other metal) and have random days where the pain is intense possibly due to ghost pains. I enjoyed reading you’re article and found this by accident while searching for a picture of the injury to show a friend, only if i knew those techniques then maybe i would have saved myself a lot of pain and possibly a surgery? ive spent easily close to 20 hours in total waiting at hospitals for two times ive been there to have it inserted back into socket.
Martin
Sorry to hear that your experience has been so bad. I’ve lived through the exact same thing, but without all that trauma. The techniques mentioned will still work today. Simple but effective., Hopefully your future is bright now that you know.
It’s so crazy that I came across this. I dislocated my shoulder yesterday (actually, the doctor said my humerus…but I’m pretty sure that’s what you all are talking about as well), but it wasn’t by body building. I was jumping off of a double decker dock on the lake with a friend and when I hit the water on my second jump, my humerus just popped out. Talk about sudden, searing pain. I can say that this guy knows what he is talking about though because when I went to the hospital to get it checked out (because I wasn’t quite sure what I had done and also wasn’t sure if there was any accompanying damage with the dislocation), the doctors were constantly trying to get me to put my arm down by my side, but I just couldn’t. The doctor finally gave me some “milk of amnesia” as he called it and popped my arm back into place. Hardly felt a thing, and I gotta say, that stuff was the loopiest drug I’ve ever been given.
The hardest part was trying to get out of the water, though. Those of you who have it dislocated probably know that you can’t really turn your arm any direction without intense pain. I had to keep it straight out while trying to get out of the lake. Even after I finally managed to get out, I constantly had to ask someone to hold my arm for me as if it were a lifeless object just because I couldn’t do it anymore. NOT a pleasant experience, I can tell you that!
Although I said Shaun’s advice is credible, I would advise that if you had some kind of freak accident like I did and you know that there is a possibility that there has been some other damage with tissue around the socket that your arm goes into, go to the doctor so they can see the best way to solve the problem. When the doctors were trying to x-ray me, they were trying to see if the dislocation was anterior or posterior and whatnot, so this tells me that the problem could be a little more complicated than one would think.
Very refreshing that you came across this Taz. There’s a good chance that what the doctors gave you was morphine (Loopy indeed). The best advice is too see a Doctor. But on the point of immediate dislocation, the key is to practice the arm straight method the moment it happens. Because there is no pain at this point.
THANK YOU for posting this information. I dislocated my shoulder pushing myself up from bed in the AM. (What a way to wake up.) I have dislocated many times in the past but didn’t want to return to the hospital. While I tried the bend my knees, grip knee & rock back and forth, in vain, my wonderful husband found your advice. Boom, taken care of in about a minute, talking me slowly into the deed.
This is the best & most straightforward method, and least painful that I’ve encountered.
You are welcome Emily. I do indeed have plenty of experience with this, and I’m glad the method described has worked for you. The issue most people have is the awkwardness of the dislocation. It never feels right to try and place your shoulder by your side when it pops out. But that’s what has to be done, and it has no choice but to go back in.
Interesting read! I dislocated my shoulder snowboarding last season and again over the summer when I fell of a donut in Spain and then once more in the gym!
First thing I would say is definitely contact a doctor after an injury like this. Even if you manage to get it back into place nice and quick there’s a tonne of damage you might have done to surrounding bones, tendon’s, ligament and muscle.
When I dislocated my shoulder the first time I didn’t actually realise for about 10 minutes, thought I had just bruised my arm and was being a baby! fell a few more times and began to feel sick with the pain. It is arguably the most uncomfortable feeling to have a bone out of place like that.
The second time my shoulder popped out I was in the water and was a bit more complicated as the speed boat didn’t come back for me so I had to re-set it myself, in the water, so that I could swim back to the boat…..
I basically did what you have explained above, position your arm straight down and then pulled down on my wrist with as much force as I could. I’m not going to lie it does feel horrible, and it does hurt, but it’s nothing like the pain you get when it’s been out for 25 minutes and all your muscles have locked your arm into your chest and you can’t move it at all.
Sorry if I’ve went on a bit there, really just wanted to say thanks for the info I’m sure a lot of people will find it useful. I am now designing a brace for dislocated shoulder recovery as my final year Uni project and would also urge anyone who regularly participates in sport to purchase one, make sure its going to do the job though.
For anyone who has recently suffered from this injury I would encourage you to stick to the muscle building and stability exercises any physio will give you as these help a lot! Also just to take it a bit easier in the future as this injury is a b*****d, it wont go away and like everyone has said can happen pretty much any time your shoulder is in an awkward position.
Cheers!
Ben
Thanks Ben
The most annoying thing about this injury as people think you are faking the pain. It’s everything you have said.
Stay Fit!
Shaun,
Thanks so much for doing this. I have the problem on both shoulders due to injuries while playing football in highs school. I went through the same experience that you described. My mom used to get so frustrated because I would come home from playing outside with a dislocated shoulder and she would had to rush me to the hospital. It wasn’t until I joint the Army that I learned how to put my shoulder back. During basic training, I dislocated my right shoulder in an obstacle course. I was taken to the hospital and I thought it was going to be the same procedure as with civilian doctors (pain medication treatment, etc.). Well, not in the Army. The doctor grabbed my shoulder and started to move my arm around, I was in extreme pain and within 10 minutes my shoulder was back in place. I was very impress because for the first time, someone fixed my shoulder without medication. Well, ever since that day I have been able to put my shoulder back because I remembered the steps the doctor took. It is similar to what you described, but the difference is that while keeping my body straight and standing on my feet, I grab my forearm (on the dislocated shoulder) bringing the arm to a 90 degree angle. Then using my good arm, I push the forearm out (away from the body) For example: if I dislocated my right shoulder, I would bring my injured arm to a 90 degree angle and then push outward to the right . It takes me less than a minute to put it back. As I mentioned before, I have this problem on both arms so I apply the same technique on both sides and it works. I workout as well, and just like you I have been building muscle around the Deltoid to keep the shoulders tighter, but all it takes is one wrong move and it is out. I was suppose to get surgery on both shoulders but I refused to do that because I noticed that many people who had this surgery, continued to have problems. Whether dealing with pain, the shoulder doesn’t move correctly, or it still gets dislocated. It is good to know that there are many people like myself out there with this problem. Again, thanks so much.
Hi Jose
I can tell this affected you in the same way as it affected me. And the way you described works also. In fact, that is a method I used, I just didn’t describe it here. What it really takes is understanding how joints and ligaments are placed within the body. Then it’s easy to see why this method works. Make sure you sign up to the email updates bud. I send out detailed newsletters daily.
Shaun