Braced

Today was my appointment with the shoulder specialist, Dr. S. I picked up my X-rays from the instacare, and they took a couple more at the clinic. The doctor concluded that I had a bad type 3 separation, halfway to a type 5. (A type 4 is a different kind of complication. Type 5 is just the clavicle being pulled even farther from the normal position.)

He said that whether I elected to have surgery or not, I could expect to recover full range of motion. Dr. K could not raise his left arm above his shoulder, which had worried me, but Dr. S. said that was due to poor follow-through with PT. The only thing surgery might help with would be reducing irritation and fatigue from repetitive overhand arm motions.

So, given the paper Rachel found on Medscape last night detailing that both surgically and non-surgically treated patients had a 90+ recovery rate, but that post-surgery you could expect a 60% chance of needing more surgery later, vs a 6% chance if you initially had none, I opted for the non-surgical route.

I did decide to try the shoulder brace he offered. Odds are good that it will improve the cosmetic appearance, and the reduced separation distance may improve function as well, especially given the prounonced initial distance in my case.

At first the brace merely felt like mild pressure, but it's grown into quite the throbbing ache over the day. I took some lortab so I could sleep. Hopefully my shoulder will acclimate to the new position soon or it will be a rough three weeks.