I'm 23 years old. I've had Erbs Palsy of my right shoulder/arm all my life. I guess I haven't seen too
many people post in this forum as sufferers, more as carers. And yet until recently, doctors had
told me the rates of this problem had diminished a considerable amount. Perhaps they're misinformed
I'm not too sure.

In any case, (as all stories go) I was an impacted shoulder delivery. As my mum tells me, I was a
pain from the start :) I decided to get stuck, and the doctor in his wisdom yanked me by my right
arm, and from there on in the damage was done. While very young, I spent a great deal of time in
a cast, at 90 degree angle, and up until around 6-7 yrs old (I can still rememer some of it) regular
physio etc. Whilst going through my teens, periodical visits to a specialist was kept up, as I was
growing etc. I did suffer a reasonable amount of discomfort growing up I admit.

I've lived through the life that many will no doubt be just commencing on the same journey. My physical
appearance is generally normal, though it does tend to "wing" out a bit, I tend to wear clothes that
have shoulder pads etc, especially like coats, quite disguising :) My parents say it matches my
dark personality. I do have quite limited rotation of my hand, maximum would be perpendicular to
a flat surface. I didn't enter into much sport while I was young, however a reasonable amount of swimming
etc I went through, to assist another problem of mine (asthma). As a career path I chose to become
an academic, as opposed to the sports orientation of my elder brother. And now I work in IT (computers),
as a result, I get pretty good articulation of my fingers, and I'm reasonably agile with my arm. I can't say
it's horribly immobilised, just restrictive, in raising above shoulder height etc. I have difficulty scratching
my nose for example :)

I guess I should offer some words of encouragement for people &/or families out there who're either
going through the introduction to this, or are at the age of coming to terms with it personally, that
you simply need to bear with it. Everyone finds their own way of coping, and managing. In my entire
life I admit I've never met anyone with this problem. It may have been nice just once to meet someone
with a common condition to relate to. I'm quite the popular patient with many doctors for the combination
of ailments I carry. :)

I guess this has been a bit of a scatter brained attempt at a submission, but I felt, for the first time I
could air a little of my thoughts of my encounters as a patient and sufferer (not that suffering is perhaps
the correct term). It kind of feels nice to know there are other people out there who can perhaps relate
to what I've been through. And as an adult, things don't seem "that bad" afterall. We all find our own
ways of getting around these problems.

Take care.

Iain.