sublux, dislocation- the difference?

squirrely · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:50 pm

I am wondering what the difference between a subluxation and a dislocation? in very basic terms-what is it?

yesterday at the end of my shift I was hurrying to get done and I am pretty sure that I dislocated it. it wasn't the usual sort of slippy feeling, but a feeling of complete seperation and a horrible sucking pop, huge pain and great difficulty bearing weight

do all joints have the same general feeling when they sublux/dislocate?

Seyrenia · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:07 pm

That is a good question, and I'm looking forward to reading the answers, too. I'm still unsure as to what a sublux feels like, but I'm beginning to suspect that it is something that happens to me, too. I just don't have a clear grasp on the feeling, don't really know how to describe it.

TinkerbellK · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:14 am **Posts:** 723

i wonder if you can dislocate something and have it go back in on its own... it may well be that i dislocate but my joints are strong enough to pull it back in...

linz? ioma? kelly? you guys all dislocate, you I think you will know better than me

sxydrumbabe · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 9:24 pm

Basically, a sublux is a partial dislocation. The "slippy" feeling you have is probably a subluxation.

You can definately have things go back in on their own...I do it all the time. My hips are great at it, except they're sometimes out for days. It's just a hard joint to manipulate, so I grin and bear it.

Hope that helps...maybe someone else can describe it better.

kmoncky · **Posted:** Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:23 pm

Ditto what the other Kelly said :wink:

. A sublux is a partial dislocation. A dislocation is when the joint fully comes out of socket/place or whatever.

I have things go back in on their own all the time, so that's not unheard of.

squirrely · **Posted:** Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:37 am

thanks, that's very helpful.

you say they can go back in on their own... is there an average range of time the residual pain lasts?

kmoncky · **Posted:** Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:38 am

it's different for each person and each injury. For me, the added pain from the injury disappears when it is back in (but I always have pain in the joints), most of the time it takes a day or two for a significant sublux or dislocation pain to go back to normal (I dislocate and sublux daily too many times to count... hips alone about 20 times a day, so I'm really used to just having to deal with the pain the injuries bring), and then I have had other times when it takes a month or two to go back to "normal".

If the pain persists longer than a week, gets worse, or it becomes very swollen, numb, cold or hot to the touch and or comes back out of joint.... go see your doctor ASAP. You might have done some damage with the sublux like soft tissue injury (torn tendons, ligaments or muscles), or have a pinched or injured nerve or the joint could be cutting off circulation (I've done that before).

d.ellis · **Joined:** Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:12 am **Posts:** 297

The best way that I understand subluxation/dislocation is by understanding the underlying biomechanics of joints. Joints are generally places where bones meet and these bones are in aligned with each other. The alignment is usually 100% between the end of the bones, i.e. the joint surfaces. Subluxations and dislocations are different ways that these bones can slip out of alignment. Subluxations happen in degrees. A 10% subluxation for instance, means that the angle is 10 degrees off normal. Dislocations is a complete displacement of the joint surfaces. A 100% subluxation is a dislocation. I don't know if that qualifies as very basic terms, I hope so...

The symptoms of both subluxations and dislocations for me is increased pain, decreased movement, and if I touch the joint, I can feel that it's out of place. The difference in symptoms between subluxations and dislocations for me is in the degree of severity. As subluxations occur on a sliding scale, so does my symptoms.

As for recovery time, my experience is similar to Kelly's, anything from a couple of days to a month for a significant subluxation/dislocation.

TinkerbellK · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:14 am **Posts:** 723

i dont generally have to put my subluxes back in, but i think my joints are just strong enough to haul them back in... i found out after reading my drs notes from years ago that my knee cap subluxes every time i straighten it - because my patella does not track properly, and it off to the side when my leg is straight. it tracks properly once my knee is bent to 90 degrees... which wouldn't be a problem unless your knees hyperextend!

ReineDeLaSeine14 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:46 am

My knees don't hyperextend yet they are quite unstable.

A subluxation is like the slipping feeling...i get that in my hips and subluxations (and some dislocations) go back for me on their own.

Others i have to manually put in myself (knees, hips, fingers, shoulders)

a subluxation for me (if it's repeating) hurts quite a bit...once i stop the repeated subluxating the pain goes away.

A dislocation has some leftover pain once i reduce it, with the exception of my right knee in which i damaged a nerve.

And...my joints don't swell...they just shift so i don't really get much injury from it....but the chronic pain is horrible!

yogini · **Posted:** Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:44 pm

Things slip in and out on me all the time. I have found that even though most of them go right back in, it does cause wear and tear on the joints.

ReineDeLaSeine14 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:11 pm

One word: Osteoarthritis

TinkerbellK · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2007 9:14 am **Posts:** 723

steph, i dont even want to think about it... i think my knee is already shot

ReineDeLaSeine14 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:42 pm

Mine is...my ortho told me if i didn't have EDS i'd need surgery...so i have to haul to Farmington to see a different ortho...

Ugh. Give me the braces and send me on my way thanks.

Ioma · **Posted:** Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:08 am

Ack, I'm sorry I didn't get to see this one sooner. I was sick from the stupid heat.

I'm not sure I can describe subluxation any better than others have already, it usually feels to me like a dislocation threatening to happen. The joint doesn't go far enough out to knock you down, or make the limb totally useless, but you'd better stop what you're doing and get it under control (or try to, at least) before you keep going. Pay attention to how you're moving. A subluxation feels like the head of the joint is wobbling around in its socket, it can also feel as if the joint is partially slipping out of the joint space itself.

Dislocations of large joints (knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, etc) are usually pretty obvious, but some people don't know to call it a dislocation (myself having been one of those people). Dislocations are very painful, and you'll see an obvious visual deformity of the joint (a bump, bend, or dent where it doesn't belong). A dislocation of a large joint will render its limb largely useless - if you dislocate your shoulder, you won't be able to move that arm much at all (you might be able to move your fingers or your wrist a little bit, but not much else).

Dislocations of smaller joints (fingers and toes, even wrists and ankles) can be less obvious, especially if the dislocation is not too badly displaced, and can easily be mistaken for a subluxation. These types of dislocations are usually easy to reduce, with the possible exception of the large joint of the thumb, simply because they are smaller and require less force and manipulation to get them back where they belong. Unfortunately, the smaller joints are sometimes injured more frequently than larger joints (especially the joints of the fingers) partly because they're used more, and partly because they're harder (in some cases) to keep located because the tendons and ligaments in these peripheral areas are weaker.

Dislocations can relocate spontaneously. My kneecaps and jaw are the only joints that have done that, and my jaw only did it once. I actually prefer to relocate my joints manually rather than have them go back spontaneously because when a joint relocates spontaneously, there's a lot less control than when you relocate it (or have it relocated) manually, and when a joint relocates spontaneously, it can take the wrong "path" and cause a messy or suboptimal reduction. Also, spontaneous relocations happen hard and fast, and that can cause more injury than a relocation done under more controlled circumstances.

My joints never swell, but I do tend to bleed into them after a dislocation, and even sometimes after or during a subluxation. Bleeding into a joint is also pretty obvious - the area immediately around the joint can swell to an incredible size, and it becomes a deep purple (like one big, nasty bruise). The blood vessels around the swollen area can look more pronounced. The area itself will be hot to the touch, and I typically have superficial numbness over the area for a while. After that, the area tends to follow a "bruise pattern" of healing, meaning it turns to greenish-yellow, and then fades to brown before the discoloration goes away completely.

Ok, I hope that some of what I wrote might be helpful to someone out there. Please remember that I'm mostly describing the way things happen for me, and if you don't have the same thing, that just means that we're different people - EDS affects everyone differently.

Enjoy...or something! :lol:

~Ioma

sublux, dislocation- the difference?

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