I suffered a separated shoulder playing volleyball on March 4, 2026. Someone ran into me while I was trying to set the ball and BAM, separated shoulder. I'm currently 39 days out from the injury. So 5 weeks, 4 days. It still hasn't recovered to the point where I can play volleyball again.
I rested it, iced it, went to physical therapy, did the exercises, added heat when I could, and it still isn't there. It's definitely gotten better. But there's still a noticeable pinch when I do anything above my head. Doing most day-to-day activities doesn't really bother me. But I don't think I can do anything "athletic" yet.
It's depressing. Getting injured and being unable to do the things that keep me sane and physically active has been tough. I know people have way worse injuries and health issues than what I'm experiencing right now. But I can't help but feel like I am losing out the limited time I have left to play sports like volleyball at a pretty high level. I'm not young anymore.
I'm going to completely limit the amount of stuff I do that might put stress on my AC joint over the next week and see how it feels next weekend. Supposedly the pinch means that there's still some stuff in there that's irritated and resting it and doing a heat/ice regimen could help it calm down.
This is not good for my mental health.
