Dislocated Shoulder Healing Time

"How long is the dislocated shoulder healing time?" is a question generally, asked out of desperation by people who are suffering from the condition. You may fall in this pain trap by an accidental injury such as after a fall while skiing, playing rugby. It can also affect you, if you are utterly unfortunate, while doing something as simple as lifting the bonnet of your car or while shutting the boot. In short, it can happen when you are least expecting it. Time required to recover from this injury depends on a number factors and is not the same for all the affected people. In fact, a lot depends on the wear and tear that the patient's shoulder joint has suffered and the type of dislocation; whether it is anterior or posterior.

Shoulder Dislocation

The shoulder joint is a kind of ball-and-socket joint. Humerus or the head of the bone of the upper arm fits into a cuplike cavity in the shoulder blade. The head is held in the position by the cartilage that is lining the cavity and the muscles and ligaments of the shoulder. Of these muscles, those on the front of the shoulders, are a bit lax and in certain situations, let go of their grip on the head of the bone and before you realize what is happening, you get your shoulder dislocated. The pain due to a dislocated shoulder is extreme and unbearable.

Types of Shoulder Dislocation
Most often, the head of the humerus is wrenched out of the socket due to trauma to the back of the shoulder and come to rest on front of the rib cage. This sort of shoulder dislocation is called an anterior shoulder dislocation.

The other form, posterior shoulder dislocation, occurs due to trauma to the front of the shoulder. This happens in less than 5% of patients.

Another form of this type of injury is subluxation of shoulder joint. The head of the humerus suffers a partial displacement and sits half in and half out of the socket. This form of dislocation is not easy to spot and sometimes, relocates on its own. Of course, it still needs medical intervention and as much care as you would lavish on a complete dislocation. It is important to remember that this form of subluxation is not the same as chronic subluxation which is permanent and can be because of repeated dislocations.

The healing time depends on what kind of dislocation it is: anterior or posterior. A posterior shoulder dislocation takes more time to heal.

Treatment for Dislocation
In case of shoulder dislocation, the first step in the treatment is obviously, to push the head of the humerus back into the socket as early as possible, that is, before it swells and becomes stiff. At first, it is tried without anesthetic. In some cases, it does not work as protective muscle spasms in the shoulder and the extreme pain hiders the work. With anesthetic it comes quite easy to push the head of the humerus in.

The injured joint needs to be immobilized by using a sling for 2-3 weeks. During this period, the doctors will look for tingling or numbing sensations in the injured arm. The head of the humerus needs to be X-rayed to detect if it has suffered any fracture during the incident. The presence of either of these causes may prompt your physician to advice you to undergo a surgery, either to treat the damaged nerve or the fractured bone. The dislocated shoulder surgery, if it is needed, extends the recovery time.

In this situation your physician may also like to ascertain how much injury the dislocating head of the humerus has caused to the cartilage rim of the socket. The cartilage rim may have detached from the socket during the trauma. If this is left untreated, it affects the stability of the shoulder joint. The patient may have to undergo a surgery to repair this damage. This further increases the recovery time.

Rehabilitation Program for Dislocation
In the beginning of the dislocated shoulder rehab exercise program, isometric and resistance exercises help the patient in regaining strength in the injured shoulder joint. These exercises are most useful in mending the injured socket and restore as much as 98 percent of its functionality. There are chances that the patient may feel pain while doing certain activities, even after the healing. Normally, a dislocated shoulder healing time is of 4-12 weeks. The pain, in some of the patients, may linger for some time.

Factors, such as age, the extent of the damage and how strictly the rehab exercises program was followed by the patient, affect the length of healing time span for this injury. The younger patients respond positively to therapy, heal faster and need less time to recover than the older patients.

In case of a dislocated shoulder, there are less chances of affected muscles regaining their full strength and length. Because of this, patients who have suffered a shoulder dislocation, are prone to dislocate it again, if unreasonable pressure is brought on it. One must note that the failure to follow the rehab program strictly, has very adverse effects on the functionality of the affected shoulder joint. Moreover, there are no shortcuts to take for cutting short the healing time.