Winged Scapula injury

skinnydog1973

Hi i broke my neck 4 weeks ago and yesterday found out that it is healing very well but i also found out that i have a winged scapula due to nerve damage after my fall, i was wondering if anyone else has had this injury and how it is with cycling,i don't have full movement in my right arm and it feels a bit weak, i will try physio but will have to wait till my neck heals properly, i would appreciate if anyone has had or knows about this injury could give me any help cheers

wishitwasallflat

I've never had it but I am a Physio and do you know that peripheral nerves (nerves outside of the spinal cord that control muscles) can grow back so there is reason to hope? Heal up in the meantime and then do your rehab - fingers crossed it will come back. If it's the spinal cord that was damaged then the nerve won't recover but your Physio will help you to get back the best function possible regardless when it comes to rehab time.

Secteur

Bloody hell mate, a broken neck?? That's terrible - was it a bicycling accident? I'm glad you're well enough to post here! As you we'll know, the vertebrae of the neck encase the spinal cord, which is catastrophic if injured, so you are lucky not to be para/quadriplegic!

As for the "winged scapula" - I have dusted off my old brain cells, and my distant anatomy studies recall this is due to injury to the long thoracic nerve - a peripheral nerve (I.e. Not a spinal cord injury) which supplies impulses to the serratus anterior muscle - this muscle helps hold the scapula in place (flat against the thoracic wall), so when it becomes weak from damage to the nerve, the scapula "wings" or sticks out.

Now, this is all very old knowledge for me - I am sure a quick google will check my facts!

As for recovery - as with all peripheral nerve injuries it depends on the nature of the injury - if the nerve is severed (unlikely, but possible) then it will be unlikely to regenerate. If it is just crushed, bruised or partially torn then you will recover some function (possibly all). You have no conscious control over nerve regeneration, so just cross your fingers and be patient - it will take months not days/weeks.

What you need to do is learn to "recruit" other local muscles to take over some of the function of the weak serratus muscle - a specialist physio will be the person you need to speak to about this. As a winged scapula is a very rare thing, you need a physio that has some specialist knowledge, or at least don't be alarmed if they have to dust off their old text books to read up on it! With some good physio (don't be lazy - put the work in!!) you will improve.

Good luck mate!

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, nor am I your doctor or in full possession of the details of your injury, so please just take the above as general advice and speak to your own doctors!

wishitwasallflat

Secteur wrote:

Disclaimer: I am not an expert, nor am I your doctor or in full possession of the details of your injury, so please just take the above as general advice and speak to your own doctors!

Bl**dy hell perhaps you should have been or should retrain! You put me to shame with the detail and accuracy of your answer. The jist of my answer was the same though OP, just not as knowledgable as Sectuer's I'm ashamed to admit.

skinnydog1973

Thanks very much for the replies,yes it was a biking injury trying to dodge someone on a cycle track and went straight over the bars and landed on my head lol,unfortunately had to ride 5 miles home before i realised my neck was broken,this was what caused the winged scapula and i think this is gonna be more bother than my broken neck in the coming months, i have movement in my right arm but if i stretch my arms out as if i was on the handlebars it looks like my shoulder blade is popping out of my back,i can't really start physio for at least another 7 weeks because they said it will take about 12 weeks for my neck to fully heal, i broke my c-3 and c-7 bone but luckily they were stable breaks so i didn't need an operation.

wishitwasallflat

Of course you were very unlucky that it happened at all - but - given that it did you were very very lucky the fractures were stable!!! At those levels the outcome is bleak if they fracture and the cord is damaged. If all you are left with is a scapula that behaves a bit oddly as your shoulder moves that's no big deal. Like Secteur says it may well recover and even if it doesn't completely there are other muscles that can be re-trained to compensate to an extent. Rest up now and do your rehab when it's time and best of luck for a full recovery.

rgasuk

Hoping the OP makes a full recovery , need my training partner back !

skinnydog1973

Ha Ha I'm secretly training so when i come back in april i will be flying

ris

i gently pranged the ac joint my right shoulder with an incorrect bike dismount a year or so ago. i have all the movement (and i think most of the strength) back, but have been left with a slightly wingy scapula and a steppy ac joint. from what little reading around i did at the time ac injuries often come with winged scapulas.

mine only wings when i have my arm by my side, and then not all that much. i followed physio exercises to try and bring it back (usefully one of them was swimming, and i do a fair bit of that), but it never quite returned. eventually i came to the conclusion that if all i have to show from my off was the wonky appearance then i was probably ok.

i hope you get some good physio on it when you are able to start it, and keep following the advise - i found i was still getting small improvements in the ac 9-12months on from the injury. i'm not good at keeping up with the specific scapula exercises and do them very rarely now.

heal up well and get the big stuff there first. i hope you get the same quality of support i did - both nhs and private physios were good with me.