United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi there

Karl just regarding your shoulder pain. I have similar injury on left arm no biceps or deltoids..emg shows no muscle activity, can't get contract with neurotransmitter, but I don't seem to have any shoulder pain as of yet (6 months post injury.) Is it all ahead of me I wonder? My shoulder is fairly wasted. I know the other muscles rotator cuff ones are also attached to C5 so I reckon if you avulse C5 you lose all of these too, (you said you have tear tho so you probably have these) I have weak infraspinatus according to emg so I try to build these back ones up I guess to give my shoulder stabilization. Maybe this is helping. ANyhow this is really interesting comparing war wounds. I wish I was 10 years post or something so I could just get used to it and stop wishing it would get innervate.

Karl, thanks for reminding me about Roll Call, I'll crunch the numbers again soon. I don't see why it shouldn't just carry on for ever, really, I find it interesting.
I hear what you guys are saying about the rotator cuff and that's kind of what I thought, but basically I don't seem to have any rotator cuff muscles left, my shoulder is so wasted that you can only see the bones of the joint, there is no flesh there at all, yet STILL I don't have pain or dislocations. Makes me wonder if some people have damage to the joint in the accident or something, or if I just got lucky.

Aurelia, don't wish your life away like that! I know what you mean (I think) the waiting time of what recovery (or not!) you might get is horrible, and I remember my total relief when the doctors said the recovery timeframe was up and that I would get nothing in my arm, I just thought YAY I'm not going to PT or anything else any more (I'd been going 3 times a week for 2 years) no more doctor visits no more helpful people saying "So, what surgery can they do? Surely you're getting it fixed?" like my arm was a leaky roof or something.....yes, that time was good for me, I left the doctors room and have never seen a doctor about the arm since-that was 21 years ago! It was like putting down a burden and was very freeing. In fact, I rarely thought about my non working arm again until I found these message boards 4 years ago, from my total devastation of the first few months that's quite an adjustment.
You guys seem to be coping so well, it must be a lot easier to have others to talk to, I never spoke to another tbpi person until 19 years after my accident. I do think that hanging around message boards can actually get depressing, if you feel you're focusing too much on the injury take a break-it may not seem like it now but there is a world out there in which your arm is just a tiny part, NOT the main focus-or that's how most long termers I know see it.
Take care of yourselves guys :0)

Sue,
Thanks for the anatomy class. As you can tell, I know very little about the muscles and there real function. I was busy learning thermodynamics and other "fun" stuff instead. I'm not sure if there is a quicker way to bore a girl than to start talking thermodynamics, just ask my wife. I appreciate your putting up with my lack of knowledge on anatomy. I've been forced to learn what little I know just so I can understand whats happening to me. So I really do appeciate the info.
I too use a pillow when riding and driving in a car. But sometimes the vibration just drives me nuts. It occurs more often when I'm riding rather than driving. But nobody wants to let me drive when I travel with other people except short juants. It usually takes at least an hour of travel time before I start to have problems.
The other day I rode to my inlaws house in a Scion B2 and my arm and shoulder both were killing me when we got there. I took extra Pain meds before the ride home. I shouldn't bad mouth the Scion because my wife was working for Toyota at the time. But she's working at Lexus now, so the rides have improved.Now I'm starting to ramble.Thanks again, Karl.

Aurelia,
I think part of my problem with my shoulder is I'm very active. I walk a great deal at work. We went to Hawaii in June and I went body surfing with my two sons. My shoulder hated me for a day and a half. But I had a blast, and that vacation was the start of me getting over myself(pity,dought,etc.) Now I'm back in the gym. I hit the treadmill for the first time last night. I got the speed up to a point where I had to jog for about five strides. I knew right away my shoulder was not supported well enough. Back to the drawing board. I'll keep working on it till I figure it out. Maybe duct tape? But yah, my shoulder is junk right now, and I know I have to protect it.
And Aurelia don't give up even one day of your life. Count your blessings, because if your'e like me your lucky to be alive. God bless and good luck, Karl.

Karl,
sorry about the delay in replying. If I drove for 7-9 hours in our little island country, I'd drive into the sea ! I'm not surprised your arm is giving you grief after a journey like that. I used to wear a Wilmer Orthosis. See this link for more info: http://www.tbpiukgroup.homestead.com/re ... plint.html (sorry, I can't find a hotlink or insert button on this messageboard). The Wilmer is excellent, both stabilising the arm, and reducing subluxing.

Re diving: I couldn't even get my wetsuit or drysuit on when I had a flail arm. Once I had the amp, I had my suit modified. Boat diving is easy, even off a rib, although when boarding the boat I fin like crazy while my buddys have to pull me in like a stranded fish. Not very elegant, but it works. Hardboat diving is easy, although its best to pass up your kit before you try to climb the ladder.
All my dive kit is standard, although my regulator comes in over my left shoulder using a Poseidon reg, and I have an extra long line on the octopus. My drysuit has an automatic dump valve on the left arm, and my BC has dump valves that I can reach easily with my left hand. I chose a BC where it is really easy to tighten the straps one-handed, especially if you lean forward. When I'm practising skills, I don't have any problems at all, except on the buddy lift. Instead of doing it by the book, I put a firm leg lock around my buddy, and ride him up to the surface using my air for control, and inflating his just as we break the surface. I'm still trying to work out how to use an SMB one-handed, but I think I'll velcro it to my left thigh. And a headband-mounted torch would be useful too.
I do up my weight belt as a big loop on the deck and then step into it, hoist it up to my waist, and pull it tight before it slithers down again. The belt is an off-the-shelf one which has a big toggle for release, instead of the more common buckle.

Re welding: I do MIG, with an automatic feed. I need to get myself an automatic helmet, coz at the moment, everytime I nod my head to bring my visor down, my gun jumps slightly, and doesn't give me the quality of work that I would like.

Karl,

Before I actually saw a bpi specialist my ortho sent me to someone who specializes in spints, braces and other devises to assist. Anyway he prescribed two different things. One was a sling that had 2 shoulder straps, this allows the arm to be pushed up into place because of the strap on the injury side - straight up and down lift versus traditional sling which pulls across the body - doesn't put the shoulder in natural position. This works well but I don't use it as much as the other devise works even better, which I don't really know the name for, but I will try to describe. It consists of a "cuff" that goes around the top of the arm and a half-shoulder pad thing that sits on shoulder of the injury side, held on by a strap that goes behind the back and under the arm. The 2 pices are joined by 3 velcro straps. Basically the 3 straps are then tightened and because the cuff is tight on the arm, the arm is pulled up into position. What is great about this is the arm is in a natural position. I don't have any deltoid, supraspinatus or infraspinatus yet. Just started getting some tricep, have quite a bit of bicep. This device allows me to exercise much more comfortably and allows me to use my hand and arm as much as I can. I really think it has played a pretty big role in my recovery. Initially I had a lot of swelling and couldn't wear it for long periods but now (9 mths post-injury) I pretty much keep it on all day. There is nothing on the device that says who makes it or what its called but I will try to find out. Its not the most comfortable or attractive thing but its much better than leaving the arm hanging. Even the 2 shoulder strap sling made a big difference for me in pain. I pretty much don't have shoulder pain anymore because I don't have to leave the shoulder sub-luxed for very long at all. Still hoping some of these muscles will come back so trying to minimize tendon anf ligament damage.

Lorrie,
I did a search on shoulder splints. I found a site that has several splints. One in particular might be the one you described. It's the Acromioclavicular splint. Does this one look like yours? Here is the url to that site. http://www.mckinnon-medical.co.uk/shouldersplint.php. Thanks for your help. Also what’s the status of your second surgery with Dr. Hentz? Are you still going to have it done? Keep me posted. Good luck, Karl

Karl, hi, that's not it. Mine allows the arm to hang free so I can use the arm - as much as I can. I'll try to find out the name and manufacturer.

Found this one a while ago...never used it myself, but looks like a pretty useful bit of kit. Of course, it must rely on gripping the bicep pretty hard to have the best effect on the shoulder.

http://www.supportsusa.com/arm/ottoboch ... ulder1.htm

...and this one which also looks useful;
http://www.supportsusa.com/arm/bauerfei ... otrain.htm

...one more..

http://www.supportsusa.com/arm/shoulder/shoulder.htm

Karl, here it is

http://ecom1.sammonspreston.com/sammons ... r.html#866

Its used a lot for stroke victims. The other sling I used earlier but not now is a Universal sling, the Harris Hemi-arm sling looks to be the same thing. Do a product search for either on this web site

http://www.alimed.com/main_index.cfm

in answer to your other question, my surgery is scheduled for Nov. 11, its an exploratory to look at the subscapular nerve. I'm really pleased with my last surgery. Use of the arm is really coming back, not all of it but the little I have makes a huge difference. This sling is a big part of why I can do what I do comfortably. At the end of the day it feels good to take it off. I also made a pad fron fleece for under the arm so the strap didn't cut in as much - it needs to be tight to work. The pad is a tube that I feed the strap through. Hope this helps