Dislocated Shoulder: When to Go to the ER or Urgent Care for a Dislocated Shoulder in DFW.

When you dislocate your shoulder, you might think you should just tough it out until it heals. But at-home treatment can cause severe complications and prevent your shoulder from healing correctly.

Always seek medical treatment if you dislocate your shoulder. If you’re in the Dallas/Forth Worth area, visit one of our convenient Legacy ER & Urgent Care facilities and our experienced clinicians can evaluate your shoulder, perform any needed diagnostic testing, and provide quick and comprehensive treatment.

Dislocated Shoulder Symptoms and Treatment

How can you know if you’ve dislocated your shoulder? You may hear an audible pop when dislocating your shoulder, but that’s not always true. You’ll generally experience lots of pain, accompanied by swelling, bruising, and mobility issues. Also, your shoulder may be visibly deformed.

If you dislocate your shoulder, you should seek treatment right away and often the fastest path to treatment is an urgent care or ER. (Our Legacy facilities are hybrid urgent care and ER locations, so we can evaluate the level of care needed and treat and bill your accordingly.)

Once your doctor diagnoses your shoulder as dislocated, they’ll need to put your shoulder back in place. This usually requires a non-surgical closed reduction procedure. Then, your doctor will provide a sling or splint to keep your shoulder in place while it heals.

Your shoulder may need surgery if your doctor isn’t able to put it back into place non-surgically or if your shoulder has additional damage. Also, your doctor might suggest surgery if you dislocate your shoulder often. Chronic dislocations indicate that your joint isn’t stable and needs further repair. Otherwise, you could experience more joint injuries.

Can You Put Your Shoulder Back in Place Yourself?

You might have heard people talk about popping their shoulders back in place after dislocating them and wanting to do the same thing. It’s understandable to want the pain to go away immediately, but you risk damaging nerves, ligaments, muscles, and blood vessels if you do it yourself. The additional damage can make you more susceptible to other dislocations in the future and might cause you to need surgery.

Recovering from a Shoulder Dislocation

The extent of the dislocation determines how long it will take your shoulder to recover. If you’ve had a minor dislocation, you’ll likely fully recover within weeks, but if your shoulder needed surgical repair, you may not be fully healthy for several months .

Regardless of the extent of the injury, you’ll need to wear a sling or splint to immobilize the shoulder and prevent further damage. You’ll probably need to wear the sling or splint 24 hours a day for the first week and then can take it off during short periods so you can bathe and get dressed but will need to continue to sleep with the sling or splint. This can be uncomfortable, but propping yourself up on pillows can help.

Keeping your shoulder immobilized can cause it to freeze or tighten, so it’s important to do gentle exercises during recovery. Follow your doctor’s orders so you don’t overdo the exercises and cause additional damage.

After two to four weeks, you should be ready to start physical therapy. This will help you regain your strength and range of motion while your shoulder continues to heal.

Emergency Care During Shoulder Dislocation Treatment

Most people recover from a dislocated shoulder without incident, but complications can occur. Go to urgent care or the emergency room if the pain or swelling increases, the skin on your hand or arm looks pale or purple, or you have a fever.

DFW-Area Dislocated Shoulder Treatment

If you’re in the North Texas area, our convenient Legacy ER & Urgent Care locations can meet your medical care needs by providing affordable pricing and quality care when you need it.

Legacy ER & Urgent Care has seven convenient locations in the DFW area:

• Allen – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 1310 W. Exchange Pkwy Allen, TX 75013, and may be reached at 972-526-5819.
• Coppell – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 330 S Denton Tap Rd Coppell, TX 75019 and may be reached at 469-702-9917.
• Frisco East – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 16151 Eldorado Pkwy Frisco, TX 75035 and may be reached at 972-526-7009.
• Frisco West – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 9205 Legacy Dr. Frisco, TX 75033, and may be reached at 972-526-7020.
• McKinney – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 2810 Hardin Blvd McKinney, TX 75072 and may be reached at 972-573-6688.
• North Richland Hills – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 8950 N. Tarrant Pkwy North Richland Hills, TX 76182, and may be reached at 817-663-1247.
• Prosper - Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 211 W Frontier Pkwy Prosper, TX 75078, and may be reached at 469-868-9100.