This injury is usually sports related.
Some separations happen in car accidents or falls.
This is not the same as a shoulder dislocation , which occurs at the large joint where the arm attaches to the shoulder, although the two may appear to be the same. Usually a sports injury, a shoulder separation is more common in football, rugby, hockey, or wrestling. For example, when the quarterback is sacked in football and forced to land on the top of his shoulder with the additional weight of the tackler, often his injury is a shoulder separation. A car accident or a fall may also cause your shoulder to separate. The following signs and symptoms are associated with a shoulder separation.