A dislocated shoulder – Ouch! The thought itself hurts everyone. The intense pain that comes with shoulder dislocation is something everyone is aware of. Other than the pain, there are several ways to know whether you have a dislocated shoulder or not. It’s very useful if you have a greater understanding about this most flexible and mobile joint of your body.
Recollecting what you have learnt from your school days, the shoulder is a ball and socket joint. Adding more clarity to it, the round top of your arm bone, like a ball, fits into the groove in your shoulder blade, which acts like a socket. When the entire ball gets out this socket, your shoulder gets dislocated. Being the most flexible joint in your body, the shoulder is susceptible to dislocation. A sports injury or accident is the most common reason for a dislocation.
Symptoms Of Shoulder Dislocation
A deformed or out-of-place shoulder is what you notice first when your shoulder gets dislocated. The injured shoulder will look very different from the other one. It will be accompanied by severe pain. Moving the joint will be an impossible task. Additionally, the muscles may have spasms, which make the pain worse.
Try to touch the opposite shoulder using the fingers on the injured side. If you cannot make it happen, it’s a bad news for you. Well, even a small injury or a fracture may stop you from touching the other side. But, if you can successfully reach the other side, then you are safe and you can forget about shoulder dislocation.
Look for swelling or bruising in your shoulder area. Study the shoulder to identify any presence of an injury. Sometimes you may feel numbness or weakness in your arm, hand, or fingers. The feeling of tingling will be there in your neck or down your arm. Numbness may also indicate damage to nerves or blood vessels.
When you consult your doctor, do not forget to mention if there were previous episodes of shoulder dislocation. You also need to discuss your activities that led to the accident. Confirm that there is no bone fracture involved.
With time, swelling and stiffness may increase in the injured area. The best thing is to sling the shoulder joint after injury. Refrain from moving your arm. Immobilizing your arm is very important as you wait for medical attention. Apply ice to the shoulder to reduce pain and swelling. Never force the shoulder back into place. This may result in further damage to the connected tissues in the area.
How To Put It Back Into Place
Before we go ahead, here is a word of caution. Dealing with a dislocated shoulder is a very complicated job. Ideally, your health care provider or an expert medical professional should do this. If there is no help coming, here are a few specific steps to put a dislocated shoulder back into shape.
Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Injecting 30 mg of Ketorolac as a pain medication is recommended. Clean the injured person’s arm with an alcohol swab. Instruct the victim to stop you in case your action hurts him. You should stop at any indication of pain. Let the victim relax and his muscles should remain loose. You should never use force while you attempt this. Bend the elbow of injured side to 90 degrees. Holding the elbow with both hands, apply traction away from the injured person. Now, place one hand on the forearm. Slowly rotate the elbow while you continue retaining traction on the elbow. Let him/her relax for some time. And after some time, you bend the elbow to 90 degrees, repeating the same process you did in the beginning. If you hear a popping sound, the shoulder is back in shape.
Let the victim lie face down on a table or bed. The height of the table or the bed should be enough to make sure that his/her arms do not touch the floor. The arm should hang straight down. Wrap a weight to his/her hand. The ideal weight is approximately 15 pounds. Let him relax. With the relaxation of the muscle, the head of the humerus drops below the rim of the socket. This will make it easier to put the shoulder back into place. Again, you or the injured person will hear a pop sound, indicating that everything is back in order.
