My advice ...
I thought I'd offer my own experiences/advice.
First of all, for the average human, shoulder separations aren't a huge deal unless they become chronic. For really active people, or people who occasionally hit the ground like us mountain bikers, even a minor separation can lead to a lifetime of shoulder instability. It's a nasty injury largely because the shoulder is an inherently unstable joint and minor physiological defects [from dislocation] can lead to instability and reoccurrence.
Here's my timeline:
Right Shoulder
1997 - dislocated right shoulder when I took a minor [could have been *a lot* worse had I landed differently] ground fall while rock climbing. Rehab'd went on to live life pretty normally.
2004 - had a bad ski fall, dislocated right shoulder again. Rehab'd, but shoulder always felt unstable at times, especially in the cold. Scared the crap out of me given my love of exploring wild places deep in the backcountry with no help available [skiing, hiking, mountaineering]. In some situations, a shoulder dislocation would have left me in a real bind.
2011 - Decided to have a Bankart Repair - awesome decision. Shoulder has been stable, feels great. Arthroscopic procedure, about the same recovery time as dislocating your shoulder.
Left Shoulder
2008 - slipped while hiking in the backcountry [totally lame]. Dislocated my good shoulder. Rehab'd, shoulder responded well. Felt totally solid. Decided to hold-off on getting any surgical work done.
2014 [Nov. 11th] - After a long hiatus from mountain biking I get back into mountain biking this past June. Love-it, ride a lot, bought a new bike. Head-out for a ride last Tuesday, climbing-up a climbing trail, rear tire spins-out on a root, bike stops, I put my foot down and for whatever reason, lost my footing and rolled onto my right side. Note that I said right side. Came away with a dislocated left shoulder - wtf? A 90 year old woman with severe osteoporosis could have walked away from that one! Anyway, I guess it wasn't as stable as I thought. I've had lots of nasty spills over the past few months with no injuries. Took the emerge docs a long time to reduce the joint; they eventually had to knock me out on Propofol and Fentanyl [the only upside to shoulder dislocations].
I will definitely be trying to get surgery on my left as well.
Advice:
1] Get it rehab'd by a good physio. When it feels better, KEEP IT STRONG with weights etc. Having been so pumped about getting back into mountain biking, I had long since given-up on weights. That was most likely the reason my shoulder dislocated as a result of such a ridiculous "fall".
2] If you've had a couple of dislocations, go see an orthopaedic surgeon. I was insanely nervous about my shoulder surgery and it was really no big deal. If I could get my left operated on tomorrow, I would. Unfortunately, I'm probably looking at a year or more wait time.
Anyway, I feel for all of you, it's a tough injury to deal with.
Anyone have any experience with braces like these:
SB03 Shoulder Brace - Shoulder Support - Support/Belts - MOTO
Seems like a better alternative to giving-up skiing and mountain biking for a year or more.