Dislocated Shoulder

[gmac324 0]

One of my teammates on my 4 way team has had problems wth a dislocated shoulder after a fall last october. She took 6 months off jumoing and came back, doing a few solos under the carefull watch of our Chief Instructor, who is concerned for her saftey.

She was advised to do 10 solos before any fs to determine that openings and landing were not a problem. After 2 jumps she stopped to keep her money for a holiday in Eloy.

She then went to Eloy 2 weeks ago and popped it again twice in 7 jumps, once on landing, once on deployment. It then popped out on a 2 way exit and she took a few days off.

She returned to jumping with a shoulder brace and has had no further problems ion the next 10 jumps.

On her return to the uk the chief instructor now requests that she does not jump again until she gets signed off by an orthapedic surgeon to say that her shoulder will not dislocate again in free fall or under canopy in a way that could compromise her or anyone else's safety.

This is quite an feat and she is unsure what to do.

She has 130 jumps and it is her left arm that dislocates.

Any help appreciated, Graeme.

[Casch 0]

Well if she was doing fine while wearing a shoulder brace, I don't know why the UK would ban her from the air...tell her to move to the U.S.
I'm very sorry for what she is going through, I'm sending good vibes and I hope she can jump again soon

[billvon 2,995]

>On her return to the uk the chief instructor now requests that she
> does not jump again until she gets signed off by an orthapedic
> surgeon to say that her shoulder will not dislocate again in free fall
> or under canopy in a way that could compromise her or anyone
> else's safety.

Well, as written the request is unreasonable - no surgeon would certify that even the chief instructor's shoulder will never dislocate during a skydive either. That can happen to anyone, including people with no shoulder problems. However, you may well be able to talk to a surgeon who tells you that, under X and Y conditions (i.e. using a brace) she is unlikely to re-dislocate the shoulder. There are several skydiving orthopods out there (I live with one.)

OTOH you may talk to an orthopedic surgeon and they may discover that the shoulder is seriously unstable, and needs surgery to stabilize it. That's also good information. In either case talking to a doctor is a good idea.