United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, its 5 months after my lats transfer and my arm now feels like a loose tooth before it comes out, Am wondering is this subluxtion or dislocation, how would i know the difference, and how often does subluxtion lead to dislocation. Also if full dislocation (not sure if I have it or not) occurs can it be dangerous, as I am now living abroad and will have to go to a new ortho, how easy is it for these guys to push it back in etc. or what is the worse that can happen. Any help would be great thanks. I have c5 c6 injury.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I think a subluxation is a dislocation. It is where the muscles aren't strong enough to hold the shoulder in place. Dustin's arm was subluxed 2 fingers down from the shoulder but he was able to get it back into place with exercise. He wore a couple of different slings that helped to pull it back into place. We asked the drs at the Mayo about the slings and they said he didn't have to wear them as leaving the arm hang would not harm it any worse. Dustin also has a c5-6-7 injury.
Sue

I had severe subluxation in my left shoulder. The cause was severe swelling in my arm. My arm weighed around 35 - 40 lbs. The shoulder does not have muscle to hold it in place from that kind of weight. I thought it was dislocated but my Dr said putting the shoulder back in place would not fix the problem. It would only come back out again. As the swelling reduces the shoulder will work its way back into place. He was correct. My arm is now about 10 lbs. It is not fully back in place but has made dramatic improvement. A dislocated shoulder can be put back into place and should remain there.

You don't state what you believe caused your shoulder problem so I can't tell you which of the two issues you are dealing with. I believe an X-ray will answer your question.

Sue~
I don't know how old Dustin is and how he was injured but I, too, have a C5, 6 and 7 injury. I don't believe I have subluxation. My injury is 20 years old and happened when I was 17. I don't have pain from my shoulder hanging and I never wear a sling. It is so interesting to me that injuries that are the same can be so different. Does Dustin have pain? I have horrible pain. I hope he does not!! I know over time and because of my age I will have to have my shoulder fused but so far (I'm 38) the pain in my shoulder is not bad.
Kath

Kath,
Dustin was 18 when he was injured in a MVA. He is coming up to 2 yrs injured on Nov 2. He lost most of the shoulder, but with exercise has gotten most of it back. The shoulder had been subluxed down and forward but is doing good now. No, he doesn't have any pain. We are so thankful for this. He does have hand, tricep and most shoulder now. Just missing bicep.
Sue


Message was edited by: ptrefam

A subluxation is a partial dislocation. A dislocation is a complete seperation of the bone from the joint. I don't know the probabilities of how many subluxations become dislocations. My daughter developed a subluxation about 2 months after her injury. After have nerve and muscle transfers her shoulder has come up totally into the joint now and looks totally normal from the front. In the back you can notice a slight winging of her scapula but that's it. Sue

Wow, he's injury sounds so much like mine but thankfully he does not have pain!!!! I did not have a bicep either but the Mayo doctors transfered my tricep to where my bicep was.......so I have the ability to bend at the elbow to use my hand. I have full function of my hand, I can pull back and shrug my shoulders but now that my tricep is my bicep so I don't have the ability to push down but I use the strenth of my shoulder to do that.
Good luck with everything! I would love to hear more about Dustin and what he has done and what he will be having done.
Kath

Tricep transfer was one of the choices they gave him. We didn't know if he would want that tricep when he gets the bicep movement? With the tricep transfer is the arm strong enough to pick up things that have some weight? His tricep is almost normal again. So he is leaning toward the gracilis transfer. He does have a couple of questions on tues when we are there. Surgery is scheduled for wed.

Yes he learned to shrug his shoulder again. Deltoid was slow coming around but think it is there. He showed me if he holds his elbow up at shoulder height with his good arm and bends the hand toward his jaw he can now hold the arm in that position by itself. That's an improvement in the shoulder. And when laying on his back he started by trying to do "angel wings" like making a snow angel. Now he can bring it in a complete circle, bringing it up like an angel wing then over the head and and back down across his body. The drs did say that he is using rotator cuff in some of the movements where the shoulder muscles aren't able to do it.
Sue

I am just wondering would I be aware if it was dislocated. I know in a normal person the pain would be excruciating but in our case its probably different. Anyhow as I have full triceps it probably isn't as someone has said they use the triceps to pull shoulder in, it just feels low down.

Aurelia,
In Dustin's case you could feel where the humurous was slipping out. If you placed your fingers on the edge of the shoulder there was an indentation that wasn't on the other side. His was two fingers which is about 1 1/2 inches down. The shoulder exercises he did to correct this were to shrug, up down back and forward. At first this was all he could move the shoulder. Then he would lay on his back and try to move the arm like when making a snow angel. When he was first doing this we had to use a piece of finished cardboard that was very smooth and offered little resistance. This will strengthen the deltoid. Even though at first he couldn't move it more than a couple of inches it did help pull the arm back into position. The other thing was getting him in water where he can move the arm many more ways than on land. The pain you may feel from this may be different from a "normal" person because with them it will happen suddenly. If yours is slipping gradually and the muscles, tendons, ect are stretched slowly you may not have pain.
Sue