I broke my shoulder no surgery is required just a sling then lots of physical therapy in a few more weeks the ortho docotr told me. My question is some other people told me this is a hard one to heal good because it gets so stiff on you if you don't keep on it.Some people said its taken them months to get over this..Anyone been through this?

Sammy, that sounds just like when my son had a broken collarbone. He went through so much pain and it couldn't be set, so he had to wear a sling. He couldn't even put his arm in his shirt. Judging from him, (which is similar), it took him about 3 months to really feel whole again. It might take longer for an adult to heal though. My son was only 11 years old. It's probably not many people that have broken a shoulder bone, and this seems to be the closest thing to the shoulder bone.

How are you doing?

The truth is that you can't really set and cast a shoulder, nor a pelvis, nor any of the other bones which are not long bones.

What are long bones? Arms & legs.

Exercise is going to be required after the bones knit - failing to do so can lead to further problems down the road.

Depending on your age, state of health, healing could take a short period of time, or be a long drawn out process.

Just a little FYI here about how bones heal.

After the break the first thing a bone does is grow a lot of bone material on the outside of the break. This causes the bone to be very thick in the area. This process is short, being a handful of weeks or less - this is to stabilize the bone for further healing. This extra exterior material can be felt as a hard lump at the break, if the break is simple the lump is thinner. If it is a complex fracture the lump can be large and uneven.

The long process is the healing on the inside of the bone, as the inside heals the initial "scab" or hard surface material will slowly dissolve. Where a break takes place this coating will remain to prevent a future break in that area until the bone heals. However it doesn't all go away, a broken bone will be thicker, denser and attempt to be stronger. The same process takes place in the case of scar tissue, scar tissue it tougher and more resistant to injury. If you have ever broken an arm or a leg and if you feel carefully you will note that the bone where the break was is thicker.

It is this thickening which can lead to stiffness and lead to joint issues later on. The shoulder is a complex joint, a ball joint which gives it a wide range of motion. Unlike the elbow or knee which is a hinge type of joint. It is a Ball and Socket Joint, meaning the arm ends in a ball the "shoulder bone" is a socket that fits around the ball. If the socket (cup) is cracked or fractured, there may be this initial build up of bone on the inside of the socket/cup. That can imped the movement of the ball. The Ball and socket are rather close fitting the additional bone material can cause the ball to be partially out of socket in extreme cases of shoulder fractures.

In your case (since no operation was needed and just a sling for a few weeks) you most likely have a hairline fracture or a clean break which is tightly held in place by other bones and muscle, this means that the bone will not have to build up a big "scab" of bone material to cover the break.

And some things about muscles:

In a sling your unused shoulder will rapidly lose muscle mass and strength. In a month's time you can expect to have your arm at half the strength it is before the break. Being kept immobile will tend to lead to stiffness as well. 6 months of no activity and the ligaments will begin to atrophy (shrink and harden). Muscles tissue is maintained by constant use.

Since you will not be doing any heavy lifting for a while, and most likely not want to move the shoulder, lay on it, or any other number of things that helps to keep the muscle, ligaments and everything limber for a week or so you can expect a good deal of stiffness and weakness to take place.

This is all addressed at Physical Therapy (PT). PT is designed to get you back on your feet (so to speak) and to exercise and work those muscles, ligaments and other connective tissues to regain the loss of strength and mobility that a period of immobility causes.

The proper exercise routine for optimal healing is most important for joints. Failure to comply will lead to extended disability, possibly lead to future problems. Joints are not just held together by cartridge and ligaments, the muscles play a big roll in keeping everything together. IF the muscle weakens, the bound between the bones weakens.

A lot of folk fail to go through the full PT course or worse, they fail to follow the icing and heating and exercise program at home Both heat and cold perform specific functions which aid in rapid recovery, not of the bone, but of the muscle around the bone. Or they do the at home exercises improperly which leads to re-injury, muscle damage or something else which can cause the healing process to be longer and much more painful.

If you are in good health, follow the sling order to the letter, do all of the things the Doctor tells you you can expect to have few problems.


David

Thanks so much for all the information. It is starting have less pain for now at least not as bad as before and i start physical therapy maybe next week or the week after..thanks Davaid and Honi!