So a couple weeks ago i was playing football with some friends and long story short, my joe montana dreams of a 90 yard hail mary ended with a 2 foot fumble and a dislocated shoulder.

Went to hospital, they fixed it which was one of the more pleasent feelings of my life. They gave me a sling, some pain pills and said have a nice day. It still hurts as much as now as it did the day after they reset it. I called my doctor and he said tahts normal but it just doesnt seem that it should be that painful.

Anyone have experience with this and can shed some light?

Hope you didn't tear anything. Get an MRI

Hope you didn't tear anything. Get an MRI

they did one that day and it came back clear

Not sure an MRI will show all the potential shoulder problems. You may be better served with a dye injection to ensure that you have not any impingement. They had initially diagnosed a torn rotator cuff on me only to find when they did the dye that it was instead an impingement, requiring some shaving of the bone, which I declined. Proper warming up of the shoulder before bowling and such lessens any subsequent discomfort, and is less of a problem long term than bone loss, I figure.

Anyway, be sure the medical folks are correct in any diagnosis regarding your shoulder or other joints before taking action.

Grey, get that dye job he's speaking of and another MRI or CAT scan or whatever it takes....something is wrong.

Trust me, they are doing another MRI on me before I leave Federal service because something is still rotten in Denmark

I had a similar issue in the miltary saying that I had PFS in my knee because they could not see anything during an X-ray.
After I got out I immediately asked for an MRI (in which they used the dye) and found I had a torn ligament in my knee that would get stuck between my femur and patela causing insane pain regularly.
Now my knee feels practically like new after being scoped.

Well a couple weeks and it shouldn't be at the same level, but also you have to consider what is that level? I mean are we talking a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale? or still like a 7 or 8? If it's signifigant I'd definitely ask for an MRI with contrast on it. Tastey stuff...

It's entirely possible that you may have torn something minor not detected by the MRI that developed scar tissue, or there's an impingement, or something is torn that they didnt see etc etc etc. If it still comes back negative you prolly just need some good old physical therapy.

Soft tissue injuries are the suck....=( Better to break a bone.

I tore my rotator cuff in Feb, I didn't know I'd done it until almost May. I also have a strain at the bicep tendon. I thought for the longest time I just had a muscle injury since I hurt in my arm. It wasn't until I realized I wasn't getting any better until I saw an ortho, got an MRI and found out about the tear as well as a bone spur on my AC joint /sigh. I've been in PT 3x a week since around 5/5 and I'm not having good results I will probably need surgery :( It didn't help me waiting for too long and continuing to do yoga, lift weights, and play vball with the injury just thinking oh it's a pulled muscle I'll be fine if I just ice it.

When I roll over onto my shoulder at night I bolt straight up out of the bed like someone has stabbed me. I have only just now gotten to the point of being able to dress with two hands and wash my hair with two hands. Both the ortho and the OT has told me it's going to be 6months to a year to get back to 100% I'm not happy about this but I did it to myself, get it checked out and don't make it worse like I did. You may try a steroid shot into your shoulder, it did squat for me but maybe it will help you.

My ortho also told me that due to the way the rotator cuff area is... tears do not always show up on the MRI, it isn't until they scope you that they see the true extent of the damage. He's treating me with PT/OT first to see if I can avoid surgery b/c I don't like being cut on and will do just about everything possible before I go that route but it could be that you have a tear that is not easily seen.

I'm fortunate that I'm left-handed my injury is my right shoulder but that also may have led to me waiting for so long to get it checked out. I remember the exact moment that I injured my shoulder and then when I made it terribly worse.

In late Feb. I was playing volleyball and dove to my right for a ball. I landed kind of funny and thought wow that felt weird but I popped up the ball and kept playing for a little while until I realized trying to block and lift my arm hurt. A few weeks later I was doing a strength assessment with my trainer and attempted to do a pull-up oh dear god I let go of the bar and fell to the ground b/c the instant I tried to apply weight to my shoulder I thought I was going to die, literally :( That's when I decided I should see a doctor.

Good luck, if you hurt like I do I know how you feel and it's definitely not pleasant. I've had a stage 3 talar dome fracture in my ankle that was nothing compared to this shoulder pain.

The pain should be better by now.... At Judo I did something to a nerve in my shoulder which sent pain all the way down my arm and my fingers were numb for a month... that was 2 years ago but it took months before it was gone/not affecting my sleeping...


It may be a nerve issue and not a "cuff" issue...

Well a couple weeks and it shouldn't be at the same level, but also you have to consider what is that level? I mean are we talking a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale? or still like a 7 or 8? If it's signifigant I'd definitely ask for an MRI with contrast on it. Tastey stuff...



It doesnt hurt as much as when i hyperextended my knee, but its not ignorable when i move it. I called my doctor and literally said "so i know you are the doctor, but everyone i know says i should have some dye thingy done on my shoulder cause the pain isnt going away" he laughed and said ok. So Friday morning we'll see.

It doesnt hurt as much as when i hyperextended my knee, but its not ignorable when i move it. I called my doctor and literally said "so i know you are the doctor, but everyone i know says i should have some dye thingy done on my shoulder cause the pain isnt going away" he laughed and said ok. So Friday morning we'll see.


Sounds like a decent doctor, not getting all uppity about you challenging his advice. Of course, he is generating revenue with another test, but if he is mindful of his training and has not become a complete tool of the HMO he will want as much as you to find the cause and alleviate the pain.

Good to hear you are getting the test done. Good luck.

Is this a regular doctor or a ortho doctor?
And good luck!

its an ortho.

I have amazing insurence so its not a "network" doctor, i chose this guy for the most part.

Good! B/C when it comes to certain areas I just don't think a GP is good for. I choose all my doctors but then I work for a health system ;)

My friend dislocated his shoulder a little over a year ago. For the first 3 months he said it hurt a lot. Now it only bothers him once a week or so. Sux2bu (and him)