AC Separations are a relatively common cause of shoulder pain and deformity. An AC Separation, also called a Shoulder Separation is a different injury then a Shoulder Dislocation. Most AC separations occur from a hard fall onto the point of your shoulder. AC separations cause significant pain on the top of your shoulder. Some of you might notice a bump has formed. Our thoughts on who might benefit from AC separation surgery is evolving and changing. See you video discussion below where Dr Jeff Berg and I discuss treatment strategies for the most common types of AC separations.
What is the AC Joint?
The AC Joint represents the region where your clavicle (or collar bone) meets your scapula (or shoulder blade). The two bones are held together by many strong ligaments.
The AC joint is commonly injured as a result of a blow to the side or top of your shoulder. For a hockey player that means hitting the shoulder hard against the boards. For others it means a fall directly onto the side or the top of the shoulder.
Types of AC Joint Separations
In mild AC Separations there will be pain on top of the shoulder, and perhaps mild swelling. Mild AC separations are either grade I or II. Both of them will not require surgery. You will be very tender over a small area on the top of your shoulder. Moving the shoulder will be very difficult due to pain on top of the shoulder. With a Type I or Type II AC separation there should not be a significant deformity noted.
In more severe AC separations, where more of the ligament supports are torn, you will have severe pain on top of the shoulder and you will now notice a deformity is present. The most common severe type of AC separation is a grade III injury. You will see a bump on top of your shoulder. It might be a small bump, or it could be a rather large and disturbing bump.
When you have an AC separation the ligaments which connect the collar bone to the scapula have torn. The deformity or bump following a shoulder separation occurs because the scapula (and arm) drops down. Most people mistakenly believe that the collar bone popped up.
Is Surgery Necessary for an AC Separation?
Most AC separations can be effectively managed without the need for surgery. Most of the recent literature shows no difference between surgically treated AC separations and non-surgically treated separations.
We grade AC or Shoulder separations by how far the collarbone is from the scapula. The further the distance, the higher the grade. Most surgeons used to only rely on the grade of the shoulder separation to determine whether or not surgery was necessary. Things have changed. Surgery for all Type III AC separations is no longer recommended.
One caveat … We now know that there are “stable” AC separations, and there are “unstable” AC separations (read on) .
Considerations before surgery for an AC Joint or a Shoulder Separation:
- The severity or grade of your injury
- We must also consider the “stability” of the clavicle (see below)
- IS it your dominant arm?
- what sports you are involved with?
- and if any other injuries exist.
An unstable Type 3 AC separation means that even after a 3 week period of rest, every time you move your shoulder you feel, and see the end of the collar bone moving, and that leads to pain, as well as poor function. If you are an overhead athlete with an unstable AC separation your performance and endurance will suffer.
A stable ACJ Separation means that you do not feel the clavicle moving around significantly as you move the arm. It also means that within a few weeks after your shoulder separation you are comfortable and after rehabilitation your function is good.
IF you have an unstable Type III (or greater) AC separation, your dominant arm is involved and you are an overhead athlete then surgery is typically advised to repair the AC Joint, and to repair the ligaments of the AC Joint. During the surgery we bring the shoulder back up to meet the clavicle and then we reconstruct or repair the ligaments around the AC Joint to protect it from future injury and restore your level of function.
Recovery From an AC Separation
The recovery from an AC separation will depend on the grade of the injury and whether or not surgery was necessary. If surgery is not necessary then an athlete might be able to return to the field in 6-8 weeks. If surgery is necessary then the recovery is much longer, somewhere on the order of 4-6 months to allow the new ligaments to heal.
Bottom Line: For ACJ separations, you want to follow a short period of rest with a course of rehabilitation. After a few weeks (3-4) you will know whether or not your AC separation will be stable and your function has been restored… or you will know if you are not tolerating the instability, pain and loss of function (non-coper). In the later situation where you are not coping well or tolerating the injury and loss of function, then you can consider surgery for your AC separation as a reasonable option.
Zach Hester
Hello sir,
I am a pitcher for my high school baseball team and when I’m not on the mound I’m at short stop. 2 weeks ago after throwing only 1 ball, when my arm reached the top point of my throw, I heard and felt a pop. Immediately following the pop my arm shot with intense pain, it dropped immediately to the ground. It has been 2 weeks since the incident and I still can but throw a single ball, or do anything at all with my shoulder. Every day I can feel the pain getting worse and my shoulder continuesly is in pain, agonizing pain. Even sitting still with no physical activity or movement. What is this? What should I do? Is something torn?
Howard J. Luks, MD
Zach .. you should see a shoulder specialist.
Richard
Hello, I separated my ac joint 3 years ago and it has bothered me ever since and recently was considering surgery. Can I do it? Will my shoulder be better after surgery?
Howard J. Luks, MD
Surgery for chronic AC Separations can be successful … like any procedure, there are successes … and a few failures.
Jacob
Hello, I separated my shoulder about 8 weeks ago during football. The doctors classified it between a 2nd and 3rd degree without need for surgery. I still am unable to throw a baseball at full speed and only feel pain when I’m throwing hard. If I continue with physical therapy will my shoulder ever be back to pitching form?
Howard J. Luks, MD
It is still in its healing phase … while there is no way to know for sure if you will be back to perfect … it is too early to decide that non-surgical treatment isn’t working
Mike Lombard
Yesterday 12-20-15 I caught an edge while public skating and crashed into the boards. Banged up both knees, a ding to the head but no cognitive/ consciousness issues and sustained Type III A/C Separation. Was not playing hockey at the time just public skate (i.e. no pads). Was taken by ambulance to the hospital; X-Rays were run. No breaks or fractures or chips. Surprisingly there is not much pain. Almost full rotation extension with moderate pain only when I tuck arms in close (putting on a shirt) or try to lift something any more than say 30 lbs.
Brett Ciabattini
Hey I separated my AC 4 weeks ago. The pain went away quickly but the bump never went away. I went back to skating a week and a half ago and everything has been going well. As long as I don’t fall on it the pain stays away. Just wondering when it’s going to go back into place and what I can do to make that happen faster
Howard J. Luks, MD
The bump will remain there no matter what… that is normal.