The River Road route next to the Hudson River (just under the George Washington Bridge) is a popular ride for cyclists seeking a hill climbing workout near New York City.
Peter C. has been in sports all his life and loves the adrenaline that cycling provides. On a gorgeous day in August 2013, he decided to do some hill training on the River Road route that resulted in disaster with a grade 3 ac joint separation and broken ribs. While going downhill at 27 mph with a couple of cars trailing behind him, he noticed a fallen rock that he thought he could maneuver around without merging in front of the cars behind him. Unfortunately, his left pedal caught the side of the rock and it catapulted him and his bike into a boulder wall that was 7’ away. Peter’s right side took the majority of the impact and resulted in him suffering a type 3 separated shoulder and 6 broken ribs. He spent 2 months in recovery in a New Jersey hospital due to this tragic bike accident.
After extensive physical therapy and time to heal, he followed the advice of his previous Orthopedic Surgeon (who performed surgery on a past knee injury) that he should just “wait and see” when it pertained to his ac joint separation. “I could not pull up on the handlebars nor ride properly on my road bike. I refused to live like that”, explained Peter C. He then began his search to find the best orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shoulder surgery in New York.
He found Dr. Steven Struhl online and saw his video on his breakthrough patented ac joint separation surgical technique, which he thought was better than any other procedure he researched so far. Peter then went to his previous Orthopedic Surgeon and referenced Dr Struhl’s continuous loop technique to repair his ac joint injury and asked for his thoughts. That doctor mentioned that type of shoulder separation surgery technique is beyond his expertise.
Immediately after that appointment Peter C. called Dr. Struhl to schedule a consultation. He felt extremely comfortable with Dr. Struhl and his staff’s attention to detail, years of experience, and the proven results Dr. Struhl has been able to obtain due to his double endobutton “continuous loop” ac joint separation surgery. Understanding that the endobutton continuous loop is twice as strong, more reliable, and has a shorter ac joint recovery time; Peter then scheduled Dr. Struhl to perform the ac joint surgery on his shoulder on November 21, 2014.
“My range of motion right now is around 95% and is excellent. I can’t believe it”, explained Peter. He was able to get back on his road bike for the first time at the end of May 2015 and could not believe that he was able to feel comfortable to ride again so quickly after his bike accident.
“I highly recommend anyone who has suffered a shoulder injury like I have with my grade 3 ac joint separation to schedule a consultation with Dr. Steven Struhl. I am so happy that I spent the extra time searching for a shoulder specialist and found Dr. Struhl’s website so I can get back to living my life”, proclaimed Peter C.
Posted on behalf of Steven Struhl MD
