Ok so on the 2nd (this month) I fell 2 days later I went to the er and they said I had fractured my humeral head but he also told me the fracture is very mild and definitely won't require surgery, said it was so small he almost didn't see it they gave me a sling and pain meds said I need to follow up with an orthopedic, I told him I am a stay at home mom with no insurance and he advised I apply for Medicaid and call around to see if I can get help until then, so far no such luck, the great news is the pain is gone with the exception I can't lift my arm past a certain point, getting a shirt on was an act of congress but now not so much at first I couldnt lift my arm for anything now I can at least lift without fully extending it, (no I'm not purposely lifting it all the time but got to change shirts) anyway since Medicaid can take awhile what I want to know is, is just being in a basic sling ok??? Just need to know what the right thing to do is for now cause the sling certainly don't completely immobilize me that seems to be up to me, I have a good friend who owns a shoulder immobilizer but that seems a bit extreme for my particular case....
For starters I am not a doctor. However I'm currently rehabbing from a rotator cuff injury and have learned a lot You did the right thing by going to the ER. After 9 days you are feeling better which is positive. Minor break also doesn't sound serious but needs to be followed up on to make sure the fracture heals, so once you get onto a medical plan make an appointment with a doctor to look at your shoulder along with the xray from the ER and determine what else he thinks you should do.
So you are in a sling right now. Shoulders need exercise or they get stiff and sometimes frozen. You don't want a frozen shoulder so it's important to see a doctor sooner rather than later to tell you how long you should wear the sling and when you should start doing some exercises.
Thank you for replying, eventually I'll make it to the doctor but when I was pregnant it took a whole month to be approved for Medicaid, needless to say I may be healed or almost healed by the time I make it to a doctor heck the first few days I thought I pulled a muscle because believe it or not I've had a similar thing happen before and similar pain it's a miracle I didn't displace the bone since I didn't go the er right away cause I did things like lifting my daughter up, high pain tolerance so yeah, I at least give my forearm brief exercise when in the shower or changing clothes I stretch and bend it while resting my elbow on my other hand to support weight I've read about the frozen shoulder thing and yeah it worries me to be sure, but I can say I'm a unusually quick healer had a break much worse then this before and it took a month was supposed to be 6 to 8 weeks doctor was shocked.
Oh yes I should also add the only time the sling seems helpful is when I'm standing.....or walking when sitting it feels lose and I've tightened it as tight as it will go.