Helu’s Health: Ask the Sports Doc
3 comments so far
October 12, 2009 by
At the end of Thursday night's game with Missouri, Husker running back Roy Helu came off of the field appearing to be a bit injured. Coach Pelini has since addressed Helu's health with his standard answer - "He's fine". But, since Coach has been more than a little reluctant to share injury information in the past and because other players sitting out practice and games have also been described as "fine", I'd rather dig just a bit deeper on this issue. To get some answers about this kind of injury, I sat down with BRN's sports injury expert, Doctor Bart Eastwood, and asked a couple of questions. Here is what he had to say.
Big Red Network: Helu came off the field with his arm at his side and holding his shoulder. What is your first impression when you see this?
Doctor Eastwood: These generally refer to an injury to the acromioclavicular joint (where your collar bone meets your shoulder blade). A player may often have extreme discomfort and want to splint the arm to their side after the injury occurs. The injury often occurs with a direct load applied to the top of the shoulder, being driven into the ground, or occasionally landing on an outstretched arm. The good news is these rarely surgical intervention. Surgery is reserved for only the highest grade injuries.
BRN: So, no surgery, usually. What is the typical course of treatment?
Eastwood: Two to four weeks are usually required before one is able to resume contact when treating AC joint injuries nonoperatively.
BRN: Is this comparable to the sprained shoulder that Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford suffered? Can you compare and contrast those injuries?
Eastwood: A shoulder sprain and separation are one in the same. Lesser degrees of injury involve tearing a portion of the joint capsule of the AC joint (a sprain). Worsening injury may involve disruption of the AC joint capsule and other supporting ligaments (coracoclavicular ligaments). This may result in a lot of discomfort and a promince or bump at the AC joint.
About the Doc
Bart Eastwood is an orthopedic surgeon living in in O'Neill, NE. A lifelong Husker fan raised in Grand Island, NE, he attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and medical school at Des Moines University.
His Orthopedic Surgical residency was completed at Ohio Univeristy/Affinity Medical Center, where he had the opportunity to work with Ohio University's sports medicine staff providing coverage of Frank Solich's Ohio Bobcats Football program.
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Jason Oct 12 09
Thanks Doc!
This might be a whole other post, but what exactly is a shoulder "stinger?"
Is it the same kind of injury you described above, but just to a lesser extent or another issue entirely?
Can an average fan tell the difference between a stinger and a real injury by the way a player walks off the field or do I have to go to med school to know for sure? :)
Bart Eastwood Oct 12 09
A stinger is a different injury entirely, and does not damage any actual shoulder structures. It is a stretching (neuropraxia) injury to the brachial plexus (where our nerves gather and cross after they have exited the neck). The player often experiences some pain, numbness, tingling and weakness. The good news is it usually resolves on its own without long term issues, but can benefit from some physical therapy. The player is allowed to return when range of motion and strength have been regained. A player with this injury may want to hold their arm at their side also, either due to pain or inability to move it. You may not need to go to medical school to tell the difference, but you do need to go so you can charge for it.
Shirley Choat Oct 12 09
Thanks for sharing this news and I always hate to see any of our guys get hurt in a game. I also went to Nebraska Wesleyan and nursing at Bryan Memorial Hospital.Hope he gets help in healing. God bless.