Exercises post-shoulder dislocation

Hi all,

Long story short: dislocated my left shoulder about 5 months ago (was a strenuous move, but was related to a dislocation I had in the same shoulder when I was ~12 years old). Orthopedic surgeon said it was in good shape and to rest/do PT. The PT exercises (dumbbell flys, resistance band exercises) have been great and I've been climbing now without issue. I have good ROM and I'm fairly confident in using my left shoulder, and can even do overhangs with not much issue. I'm still a bit hesitant to do any extremely reachy overhead moves with my left shoulder - I usually have to use technique/find ways to bring my feet up to avoid a big reach.

Question: I recently have been reading about shoulder engagement, IYTs with olympic rings, and scapular pullups. I admittedly do not engage my shoulders properly, according to what I've read, and getting into that habit will obviously help. But I am curious about scapular pullups/IYTs - does anyone know how safe it would be to do these for someone with a previous dislocation, if I engage my shoulders properly? I've never done these exercise before. I am trying to incorporate as many quality exercises as possible to continue to strengthen my shoulders, but of course want to do it safely.

thank you friends

Ortho PT here - have u done scapular plank push-ups (on elbows)? U can vary the amount of elevation of the arms also (ie; move elbows “up” to head/ear level  instead  of just at shoulder level) this will engage the scapular / shoulder stabilizers through a varied ROM .  

Hi Jared, retired PT and shoulder dislocation survivor here. It's great to hear you're back climbing. I dislocated my left shoulder in my late 50s, whilst climbing something hard for me, and the dislocation was quite severe in terms of damage to surrounding structures. I was back climbing after 3 months and felt 100% (or as much as you ever do at this age!) after about 6 months.  Like you, I was pretty nervous about dislocating again to begin with. I like adventurous multipitch routes, sometimes in countries without US-style rescue services, and consciously avoided anything too committing for several years. Five years later I've had no hint of recurrence and am climbing at least as hard as I was before the injury (5.12 sport, 5.11 trad., when the planets align). I'm psyching myself up for another try at my nemesis route this year. 

It's hard to be specific about exercises without having seen you, any good PT will be treating the person more than the diagnosis. My experience was free weights and resistance band exercises took me part way but to get the last 20% I needed to be pushing my shoulder hard in functional positions. I aimed to put my shoulder in vulnerable positions and load it with bodyweight but in a controlled setting when the fear and distraction of climbing are not factors. For me, a combination of calisthenics (handstands, side-planks) and IsYsTs on gymnastic rings (mostly the 'posterior chain' leaning back version) worked well. I still do these almost daily as a conditioning routine and my shoulders have felt pretty good ever since. I had had intermittent troubles with the right, non-dislocated, shoulder for decades but, guess what, sticking with an exercise program has been really beneficial for it and it now feels better than it was in my 40s! Overall, having the dislocation has probably helped my climbing. 

Are you still seeing a PT? How familiar with climbing are they? It might be worth a one-off consultation with a different one. Either way, ask a PT the same questions as you have here.

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Duncan - I've actually adopted the IYT's using the olympic rings at the gym (the leaning back version, as you mentioned) and they do feel like they give me the extra stability that I wasn't getting from my PT free weight/resistance band exercises. But the combination of all of these exercises has made my shoulder go back to near 100% and I hardly think about it while climbing. The only time I have to remind myself that my shoulder has been injured is when there is an extreme left arm reach with bad feet. Overall, it seems like you and I had similar experiences. I'm happy to say that I also think the shoulder dislocation has improved my climbing for many reasons.

Emma Nakpairat wrote:

Hi Jared-- unfortunately I don't have a good answer for you on your questions, but as someone who has had some shoulder issues I would recommend doing Is and Ys on an exercise ball, like this. As always, shoulders retracted back and down. That exercise will help you build up your shoulder muscles so that eventually you can do it on the rings.

I am curious about your recovery from your dislocation. I subluxed this past weekend and I am looking for any and all recovery advice. Did you have any additional damage, like a labrum tear or anything? What did you do to help get it healthy?

Thanks for the advice. Those IY (and Ts) help a ton.

Sorry to hear about your subluxation - If I had any additional damage, it's very minor. I'm not sure if it's just luck, or if it's the nature of the dislocation, or my age (close to 30), but the ortho told me that it wasn't bad enough to warrant surgery due to my condition after 3 weeks. 

To get it healthy, I made sure to take it slow and pay close attention to how my shoulder felt while hanging (assisted hangs at first, of course), and climbing easy routes. This helped me to gauge how I could climb during the recovery process to keep my shoulder moving without hurting it further. I also did a variety of dumbbell exercises and resistance band exercises (and now the IYTs) and they help a ton. I do those exercises every single day, making sure to do them before climbing on climbing days. Once my shoulder stiffened back up, I got back into moderate (for me) climbing, and eventually was back fully doing overhangs and routes at my limit. I still do the exercises every day and I probably will never stop doing them. They make my shoulders feel almost better than they did before my injury.

Did you get yours checked out/receive any PT exercises?

Emma Nakpairat wrote:

Hi Jared,

I did end up getting it checked out-- I have an awesome climber PT who has been helping me get back to normal. She suspects that I did actually fully dislocate my shoulder and tore my labrum in the process. For what it's worth though, the recovery has been relatively smooth thus far-- Doing the I's and Y's, and some TheraBand, dumbbell, and bodyweight exercises targeting external rotator muscles. I can go into detail if you want, but it sounds pretty similar to your program. The exercises help a ton, and I was able to get back to easy climbing 2 weeks post dislocation and I have been steadily easing back into my climbing/lifting routines ever since (though I am nowhere near 100%). I appreciate you sharing your experience with me, and I hope your shoulders stay healthy!

Very nice! It does sound like both your program and progress are similar to mine. Good to hear that you've been able to get back into easier climbing and lifting. When I was easing back into it, I felt good but was curious if my recovery would put me back near 100%, and I currently am able to do campus dynos without any sense of discomfort in the shoulder. It sounds like if you keep up with your program you'll probably get back near 100% as well. I hope yours stay healthy as well!