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With the abundance of information on the internet comes an abundance of inaccurate advice as well as useful advice, and no real reliable way to tell one from the other.
Here's some advice that could fall into either category, so take it with a grain of salt and plan on seeing an orthopedic surgeon or two before you formulate a definitive plan. Usually the most damage is done at the first dislocation, when the front of the socket gets torn off and sometimes creates a defect in the head of the humerus as well. If that situation goes onto recurrent dislocations (which in your case it has, by your description) the future likelihood of further dislocations is so high that it begins to make sense to have the defect repaired, especially in a younger age group. While technically you are doing more damage each time it re-dislocates, the amount of damage is very small compared to the damage that is already there. One of the events that typically drives patients to finally get something done is when the shoulder dislocates while you are sleeping, or some similarly annoying time.
The first priority is for your doctor to establish the type of dislocation (anterior, posterior, traumatic, atraumatic, etc.), which can be usually done with a good exam, x-rays, and possibly an MRI. Some people diagnose their own shoulder problem as a "dislocation" when in fact something else is going on, and on top of that there are some types of dislocations that are best left alone, without doing any surgery.
So the real answer is not to take a stranger's advice (like this) over the internet. Get the information you can, be skeptical of some of it, and as Louis suggested in a previous post, see a qualified orthopedist about it to get the facts that apply to YOUR shoulder, not everyone else's.
Dave
Dell 8300 Dimension Pentium 4 W XP Home
www.woodenpropeller.com
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