Stl Bills Posted December 17, 2005 Posted December 17, 2005 I partially seperated my shoulder in June after falling while rock climbing. It kind of healed over the next few months but still gave me problems from time to time. Last week I went skiing in Colorodo and fell real hard and messed it up worse than before. I just went into business for myself a year ago and my health insurance policy isn't active untill January 18th. Anybody have any experience with an injury like this? I can't lift my arm above my head, steer my car, or even put on my jacket. It sucks I just don't feel like paying out the ass for an MRI when it will be virtually free in a month. Not to mention if my insurance gets a wiff of this they might not pay for any needed surgery because it would classify as a preexisting condition. Maybe I'll just get wasted every night until the 18th, afterall it is the holidays.
dogbyte Posted December 17, 2005 Posted December 17, 2005 You have injured it much more than you think. You should of never gone sking until it was completely healed. You will now need an operation to correct the sepration problem and to keep it corrected. Wait until your insurence is active and just tell them it happened when you fell some place. The MRI will cost about 1000.00 The op about 3 to 5 K.
krazykat Posted December 17, 2005 Posted December 17, 2005 I partially seperated my shoulder in June after falling while rock climbing. It kind of healed over the next few months but still gave me problems from time to time. Last week I went skiing in Colorodo and fell real hard and messed it up worse than before. I just went into business for myself a year ago and my health insurance policy isn't active untill January 18th. Anybody have any experience with an injury like this? I can't lift my arm above my head, steer my car, or even put on my jacket. It sucks I just don't feel like paying out the ass for an MRI when it will be virtually free in a month. Not to mention if my insurance gets a wiff of this they might not pay for any needed surgery because it would classify as a preexisting condition. Maybe I'll just get wasted every night until the 18th, afterall it is the holidays. 534636[/snapback] The shoulder op may cost more than that. Check with your doctor first if you have it done and get a price in writing. The MRI should run from 1,000 to 1,500 unless you are in a very low cost of living area. You're right about the insurance thing. The less they know the better if you plan on using it. But you need to find out what's wrong first. If your shoulder hurts and doesn't get better, obviously the odds are much greater that you have something seriously wrong. See if the swelling goes down if there is any and see if there's any improvement otherwise. If not, then it can also hurt you to wait too long for something serious. You may want to go to one doctor that you've never been to for an opinion/x-ray and a prescription for some antiinflammatories. Just don't plan on going to the same guy for your insurance stuff/surgery.
boomerjamhead Posted December 17, 2005 Posted December 17, 2005 In short my friend - you are a dumbass for not paying the couple of hundred bucks a month to CYA in the event you get hurt when your hobbies include rock climbing and skiing. I mean come on... Congrats on becoming an entrepreneur and all, but you really should have had all your ducks in a row before striking out on your own. That being said, I dislocated my left shoulder in a dirtbike crash five weeks before I was getting called up to active duty. I rushed my PT and blew off the last few weeks of it in favor of going with my unit. Dumbass mistake on my part because my shoulder clicks all the friggin time now and I just hope that I don't have to have surgery on it later on down the line. They told me that I would have an 80% chance of dislocating it again someday just because it happened the first time. Separations are much worse and I hope you have some left over vicadin from the June accident. If not, drink heavily like you said. From one dumbass to another, I would pay the six or seven thousand and get it taken care of sooner rather than later.
Turf Toejam Posted December 21, 2005 Posted December 21, 2005 I separated my shoulder third degree on Super Bowl Sunday of this year while snowboarding. My doctor was totally full of sh-- when he told me that his football players experience this sort of injury and are expected to play in two weeks. After a month, I finally made it back to the slopes, albeit very tentatively. This was after gettting a full doctor's clearance. After nearly six months, I believe that it's very uncommon to mess up your shoulder again in the same manner. It happens, but my doctor told me that I would have to experience a similar fall to the first one in order to sustain a problem. I've been also lifting weights in order to improve my muscle mass around the affected area. I think you're screwed, I would throw out the possiblility that you've experienced some sort of rotator cuff injury, which will automatically guarantee you surgery. My doctor told me that my injury, if experience by someone that 'worked' for a living (i.e. carpenter, bricklayer, carpet installer), they would have automatically have done surgery, which from my research, would have not been a pleasant experience from a recovery time standpoint. Do what you want, but I would have to concur that your probably need surgery, and the sooner you get it, the better.
Pete Posted December 21, 2005 Posted December 21, 2005 It sounds like a rotator cuff issue and that sucks. Usually if you have a hard time raising your arm above your shoulder its a rotator issue. It takes a long time to recover if its a complete rotator cuff tear. I have a partial tear of my labral but I do weight training to support it and its fine. I hope you do not need surgery. To completely see the damage done you will need an MRI I beleive and those are very expensive. Sorry man- good luck to you!
Crap Throwing Monkey Posted December 21, 2005 Posted December 21, 2005 I slipped on some ice about eight years ago and wrenched my shoulder something fierce, and it's recently degenerated to the point where I had many of the same symptoms you describe. I was afraid in ignoring it I'd damaged the rotator cuff and it had degenerated with time...but it turned out it was just bursitis and arthritis that was cleared up with a cortisone shot and some PT. But I don't want to sound like an optimist. It's not a certaintiy, but the betting odds are that you have some major damage. And the problem for you is that the only way you're going to find out is to see a doctor, which means you either wait a month or shell out the cash now. But you're not going to find out by asking a bunch of schmucks on a football message board.
Ghost of BiB Posted December 22, 2005 Posted December 22, 2005 Is it my turn to be doctor? I ended up with osteonecrosis in my right shoulder, basically from a slam and tear injury playing of all things, football. I didn't follow up on it - the blood flow to the bone got screwed up, and a portion of the bone died. But hey, I was young and tough. A lot like bad arthritis. There was a time, long after the fact of the injury, where raising my arm past shoulder height would not only cause pain, but weakness. I've dropped a coffee cup out of the cupboard, just trying to take one out. All I'm saying, is that you should see a doctor. It may not be rotator cup - I sure thought that was my trouble. I was about ready to use my "I can't play anymore, because of the rotator cup". And if you haven't a doc, it's on you. Quit asking questions you know the answer to on a message board. We're all experienced, but stupid. this is a Bills Fan Board, or have you not noticed?
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