So just a follow up question. Why would you not search for a procedure that meets outcomes and recovery time lines that doesn’t require a second surgery to remove a hook plate? It seems to me requiring a patient to come back for second surgery is a significant reason to find a better method for repair of the injury, no?
According to my surgeon, in my case, other methods are less stable and less predictible because of size of the damage in my shoulder. For me this season is over anyway. There is no option back to racing this year no matter what method you choose. Additionally I broke my arm too and it is at least 6 weeks before I will be able to rehab this arm. The doc said I would start my rehab sooner with plate and I will be able use turbo sooner that using other methods. According to him removal is not a big deal.
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I just had a big MTB crash and a relatively minor injury that feels like a sprain or maybe grade-1 separation; didn’t even go to the doctor as nothing is poking out and pain isn’t too bad but definitely hurt something. Sadly, this is just two weeks before CX season, ugh.
Tell me about this handlebar set-up, please.
Sorry to hear that.
Used this stem extender on top of my regular drop bars, used a spare mountain bike handle bar, and then also bought a really cheap short mountain bike stem in 35mm length. With the stem being that short you can flip it backwards to get an even more upright position. You may need to adjust the tilt of your saddle too since you’ll be sitting so upright. This set up made it tolerable to ride up to about an hour until I was able to put pressure on my injured arm.
Hope that helps. I’d recommend looking at the different grades of AC separation and make sure you take care of it well so it heals quickly. This link has a good summary. You may have just a grade 1 sprain. AC Separation
Stem Riser: Tebery Bike Fork Stem Extender Head Up Adapter Handlebar Riser Adaptor Aluminium Alloy Flexible and Easy Installation
by Tebery
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075VL7JH8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_Fu-DDb54NMN2Y
MTB Stem: Bavel Aluminum Alloy Fixed 31.8mm Cycling Mountain Bike Short Handlebar Stem Riser
by bavel
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017YRH88S/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_tw-DDbFMMS5MQ
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Thanks for that. I agree either a sprain or stage-1. I am so tired of this, I can’t crash a bike without trauma. Not sure ho much more of this hobby I have in me.
Crashing is part of the MTB sport. You’re riding on mixed surfaces of dirt, sand, rocks, roots and often unpredictable traction, all while going at high speeds and avoiding trees. It takes constant focus which makes the sport so exhilarating. Just accept it and continue to improve your bike handling. Analyze why you crashed and how you can improve to minimize that going forward. Was it a freak accident or something you did wrong? I’ve been riding and racing XC for 2.5 years and have had two grade 3 AC separations, left and right shoulders. Being injured is an annoying inconvenience, but it also allows your body and mind to reset and put things into perspective.
Focus on your nutrition and Traditional Base training as you rehabilitate and you’ll be back on the trail in 6 weeks.
In a remarkably stupid move on Wednesday I tried to make a return to snowboarding after three years of skiing, two runs down the mountain later and I was leaving with a separated AC joint.
I am half way through sustained build. My plan once I had finished that was to do low volume SSB over summer(here in NZ).
I guess my questions are:
Should I do traditional base from here?
And if so, do I retest FTP given that it might be difficult to get close to previous levels? I’m not worried about my ego taking a hit(my snowboarding ability or lack of it already did that) but want to make sure I continue in the correct zones.
Thanks in advance for your help 
I’m looking at the affect of the separation now, just over two weeks after my stage-1 separation. What happens the next time I crash? Do I have a reduction in strength of that joint for ever or for just a while? Expect surgery the next time I put an arm down in a CX race? Wondering if it’s time to give up on this sport due to injuries.
Once you are fully healed and go through PT you should be back to 100%. You are at no further risk for injury than someone who has never injured themselves. I had a grade 3 separation on my left shoulder in May 2017 and a grade 3 separation of my right shoulder in September 2018. I’m back to 100% on both and still racing and getting fitter!
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I’m not going to PT. Was just going to wait until it stopped hurting, get back to doing my normal body-weight exercises, and then ride again. That’s if I ride again. Kind of want to unload the bikes and give-up, lol.
If you’re looking for an excuse to stop riding, then that’s fine. Or figure out why you crashed and what you can do to make it less likely in the future.
Well, I have no recollection of the crash as I broke a helmet and have some memory loss. Not sure what I should do.
Then you’ve had a concussion and that’s way more important than your AC sprain. Stay off the bike for a bit and let the brain heal!
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Take a break.
Heal your body, heal your brain, leave the bikes aside for a while, don’t sell anything or make any decisions.
Based on your posts from the past many months across many threads, you are clearly burned out and you need a break.
Close the forums, take a few months off and wait for the itch to ride to find you again. If it doesn’t after 3-6 months, then sell the bikes.
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Suffered grade 3 back on Memorial Day 2019. I had surgery 4 days later with suture/dog bones technique. 6 weeks in a sling, 8 weeks off work due to unable to drive, ie turn steering wheel safely. I was off the bike for 4 weeks. Got back on the trainer and rode sitting up while supporting my arm with exercise band hanging above me.
My doctor cleared me to ride outside after 10 weeks. I experienced no pain or discomfort while riding on the roads. After 18 weeks I notice pain in the AC joint and my clavicle elevated. The ligaments are holding/strengthening but something happened to the suture. It either stretched or broke thus allowing my not fully healed coracoclavicular to stretch/tear this allowing the clavicle to elevate.
These stretched coracoclavicular now resulted in the clavicle to pinching the acromion bone when I raised my arm or moved my arm across my body. Today, Nov 1, I just had distal clavicle excision surgery to remove the impingement. Hopefully this solves and ends my surgery journey. I plan to take the week off to let the ac joint swelling reduce before getting back on the trainer
Crashed yesterday and turns out I have type 3 AC separation. Have only seen ER doc so far so don’t know what orthopedist will recommend. It’s been helpful reading the accounts here to prepare me for what I’m facing. I’ll update when I have some info to contribute to the thread.
Hi to everyone and I hope you are all healing.
Just an update from me as the original poster - 5 months after my accident things are 95% normal again. I still struggle with strength in my upper body when doing push ups which was not to good before the accident anyways and definitely needs improving.
First 4 weeks I was on the indoor trainer with probably putting preasure on my shoulder a little too early. I then transitioned to training outside again for 6 weeks before deciding I needed a week off which was followed by a week of sickness.
After those 2 weeks off I did about 4 weeks of unstructured riding at 15hrs a weeks and then transitioned back into now properly training on 17-20hrs a week with about a 900TSS score a week.
I basically saved most of my fitness over the summer after the crash with loosing quite a bit on the top end.
Just as a disclaimer - I myself think it might not have been the right decision to turn down the surgery and I would not advice anyone to do it. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with and your doctor is also fine with . Stay safe out/in there cycling and enjoy the ride
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My personal experience with grade 3 separation: I healed up surprisingly quickly, to the point that by the time I met with the specialist (~ 1 month post-crash) , he advised against surgery. He said that unless I had functional problems with my shoulder, surgery wasn’t worth the risks, which he said were possible complications from the surgery itself, and a high risk of developing arthritis in that shoulder later. I wasn’t indoor training at the time, but I estimate that I could have got on a trainer (one handed) within 2 weeks of the crash, and training pretty normally by about a month post-crash. My injured shoulder was a little bit weaker and ached from time to time for about 12-18 months afterwards, but if I had done more physio or strength training, my feeling is that it would have come back to 100% sooner. Today, 4 years post-crash, there is no strength or function difference that I am aware of, and the only sign it ever happened is a pretty big bump on my collarbone.
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I have been facing the same problem with my ac and I don’t know how to fix the issue, so find for the solution and got from the ac maintenance dubai.
Physical therapy. It takes a while, but it works. (Been there).
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