OT: Shoulder Separation vs. Dislocation

[crackercats]

If this belongs in another thread then by all means mods can move it. There's been a lot of discussion about the difference between dislocated and separated shoulder, and what we are "hoping" the diagnosis is for Lubo, without anyone really providing a suitable answer that I've seen. The truth is that for either injury, the degree of the injury can vary significantly and recovery from either can be anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks (usually), depending on the severity. The major distinction from a longterm standpoint is that a dislocated shoulder never properly heals - it is always apt to pop out again. A separated shoulder, if its allowed to, heals fully and has no greater risk of reinjury.

[Ghostbuster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separated_shoulder

vs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dislocated_shoulder

[Klaus*]

Stolen.

A shoulder dislocation is an injury that occurs when the top of the arm bone (humerus) loses contact with the socket of the shoulder blade (scapula).

A shoulder separation is an injury to the acromioclavicular joint on the top of the shoulder. The shoulder joint is formed at the junction of three bones: the collarbone (clavicle), the shoulder blade (scapula), and the arm bone (humerus). The scapula and clavicle form the socket of the joint, and the humerus has a round head that fits within this socket. A shoulder separation occurs where the clavicle and the scapula come together. The end of the scapula is called the acromion, and the joint between this part of the scapula and clavicle is called the acromioclavicular joint. When this joint is disrupted, it is called a shoulder separation. Another name for this injury is an acromioclavicular joint separation, or AC separation.

[Cider_]

A shoulder seperation occurs at the red circle when the AC joint seperates.

A dislocation is in Blue when the humerus separates from the scapula at the glenohumeral joint, it usually seperates in a downward direction.

Betterview of seperation and degrees of seperation



Oilers website says it's a dislocation.
http://oilers.nhl.com/team/app/?serv...ticleid=345028

/not a doctor

[jumptheshark]

oh great

more medical questions

[Mentallydull]

I separated my shoulder a while back and was told that it's a fairly common hockey injury.

If you separate your shoulder (depending on the degree) you still have decent mobility with some pain (although one doctor said I should keep it immobile and my physiotherapist told me I should work it - great ) whereas with a dislocation you get one of those wonderful arm slings.