Separated shoulder

You may already be doing this, but there are some good techniques for using KT tape for shoulder stability. I had an AC separation in my early teens, don't remember a ton about the injury and of course kids heal fast and easy, but I do remember that taping was helpful after getting out of the sling. Probably was taped up regularly for 3-6 months post-injury. It is easier for someone else to do the tape on you than it is to do it on yourself. 

Anyone out there end up having a distal clavicle resection/mumford procedure for their AC injury??

I plateau'd in my healing after about a month of pt and then 4 months after my injury finally had an mri. Turns out neither the CC nor the AC ligaments were torn, but I had a ton of fluid in the joint (effusion) and my clavicle was grinding into my acromion causing osteoarthritis/osteolysis to set in. I opted to go with the arthroscopic clavicle excision over trying cortisone injections and had it yesterday. He also removed the subacromial bursa, but fortunately there is no cuff damage or SLAP tear. Has any of ya'll had the mumford done?? Doc said I'll likely be 100% and skiing/climbing in 6-8 weeks... obviously everybody's different but I'm curious how accurate that actually is. 

I had distal clavicle resection + subacromial osteophyte removal, L shoulder, about 6 yrs ago. The bone spur was digging into my supraspinatus in a really disabling way. That felt about 70% better immediately, the rest coming back over ~3 months. The AC itself was never too problematic for me, though doc said it was the cause of the osteophyte growth. Post-surgery, AC was locally tender for several months, but activities didn't much aggravate it. I think I was biking and climbing within a month, conscious to keep scapula back. Pushing exercises, especially overhead or incline, I was a lot more cautious with because I suspect they may have contributed to the initial OA.

Now, I've separated the right AC, one week ago. Grade 2 based on laxity, no imaging. I'm trying 2 weeks in a neoprene shoulder brace, hoping it will heal in approximately the right alignment. Worried that too much laxity will leave it vulnerable to re-injury.

Thanks for the response, Kevin! Seems like you were back to activity really quickly after the resection which is encouraging, although at this point it’s been so long since I climbed anyways Im not going to rush back into it.

Sorry to hear about the new injury. Personally, KT tape felt much better on my AC than the neoprene brace I bought, but you’ll definitely need somebody else to apply the tape for you. I hope it heals quickly for you!