What Happened When I Fell and Fractured My Shoulder

By: Patricia Salber MD, MBA (@docweighsin)

Updated May 24, 2020

After I fell and fractured my shoulder, I learned that there are many issues to consider in addition to the fall and the fracture.

What I learned when I fell and broke my shoulder is that a fall is not just a fall and a fracture is not just a fracture. (Photo source: Adobe Stock Photos)

Who knew that a trip to the airport, one I had done many times, would end up so badly. Here is what happened in August 2016 when I fell and broke my shoulder.

I was in a hurry to get to the gate for my flight to Tuscon. In the summer of 2016, I was flying to an important meeting where I was going to have the chance to interview a former Surgeon General. The traffic from Marin to SFO was obnoxious and the TSA line very slow.

I was wearing a heavy backpack. Optimistic about getting some work done on the plane, I had filled it with medical journals and my laptop. I was also pulling my wheelie.

I was walking my usual fast pace when the ball of my left foot struck the floor first-it had been happening a lot lately-and I stumbled. As I tried to get my balance, the backpack slid up towards my head and propelled me forward and down-hard.

I took the brunt of the fall on my right shoulder, but the worst pain was in the middle of my upper arm. I couldn’t use it to help me get up off the floor.