Advice for my beautiful Maeva's recent shoulder problem

[Rov]

Hi,

since summer 2014 I'm the delighted owner of Maeva (RealDoll2 - Brooklyn model).
I hold Abyss and their creations in the highest esteem. Their team is always helpful.

A slight problem arose a few days ago with her right shoulder articulation:
her right arm can't be lowered alongside her chest anymore. The closest it will move inward is at a 30 degrees angle with the chest. The articulation then blocks further movement inward.
I can rotate it outward and from front to back with no problem.

Is there something I can do other than repair to fix this?
Maybe it's a bad combination of front-back/inward-outward rotation over time that resulted in this and it could be undone?
I need some doll chiropractic guidance

I take great care when I handle her and never force an articulation.

(note: I also wrote to Abyss this morning but they are extremely busy with their sale right now. Thought somebody here might help.)

Thanks!

Rov

[hollows+fentiman]

Sorry to hear about your problem Rov but welcome to TDF anyway! There will be members who can help and there is also a thread called "Ask the Doctors" which samara78 tries to help in. She works on a lot of dolls and loves having them herself. You could try posting in that thread but she may also pick up on this one too!
Good luck!

[samara78]

Hi there Rov. Have you been sleeping with her on her side at all?
Sometimes you can stress joints over time this way.
If the answer is no you can slowly reverse the direction you moved her arm in.
You stated all other movement as fine or natural?

If you have been sleeping with her lying on her shoulder you may have a bent part in there.
If a bent part is the case, most mfr will help upon pics of the damage. I.e cutting along the seam. Feel free to p.m me or post an answer to the questions here if you like.

[Rov]

Thanks H+F and Samara!
My answers below.

Hi there Rov. Have you been sleeping with her on her side at all?
Sometimes you can stress joints over time this way.
If the answer is no you can slowly reverse the direction you moved her arm in.
You stated all other movement as fine or natural?

If you have been sleeping with her lying on her shoulder you may have a bent part in there.
If a bent part is the case, most mfr will help upon pics of the damage. I.e cutting along the seam. Feel free to p.m me or post an answer to the questions here if you like.

Only occasionally on the side and not for sleeping: just for hugging and the I rest her on her back beside me (to afraid to damage fingers during sleep!). And whenever she's on a side it's the left side — opposite side of the mentioned problem.

Your answer helps me identify the probable cause: during a 'session' with her Monday, for a short period her weight rested heavily on one shoulder/upper arm. I was sure it was the left side but now I'm in doubt... Maybe it was the right side.

All other movement are natural.
I even managed this afternoon to bring the arm closer (8-15 degrees from the chest) naturally, but afterwards it blocked again at 30 degrees (outward and front/back arm movement still natural).

No use to post a pic: there's no tear. As I said, I'm careful (she's too valuable).

Rov

[samara78]

You will have to cut her to repair her. In my personal opinion there may be a bent part in there somewhere or a misplaced bolt. If you wait too long to fix the issue it will become worse over time. Undue pressure has been applied in there. Ignoring the problem won't make it go away. If youcut heralong the seam on the top of her shoulder you will get a straight good looking repair. Say the shoulder takes a turn for the worse you could get an amputation or a hard to repair jagged cut. Manufacturers will help you after you cut to show photos.
If you need any more help just give me a shout out

[upsux]

Also Rov - don't worry about stitching her back up - it's super easy and if done with some patience and even very little skill you'll barely notice any scar. I've cut into my Doll twice now for repairs (finger and foot) and you'd be hard pressed to point out where the incision was done.

All I needed was a spare blade from a box cutter, some rubbing alcohol to clean the area, some drinking alcohol to steel my nerves, and a small portion of the adhesive Abyss included with the delivery.

Take your time, take some pics, and stay active on here and there will be plenty of people to walk and talk you through this!

[Rov]

Thanks for your answers. I will look into it.
I have my share of experience stitching with all these unavoidable finger pokes!
Lately I came up with a technique using staple to hold a seam closed while the glue cures.
Guess the idea came from the staples on my belly after surgery...

Question is: once I open her shoulder then what?
Should I have a soldering iron or blowtorch at the ready?

Rov

[samara78]

You can't blow torch an r.d you need acetone if you are in the states for cleaning her before closing up wear poly or nitrile gloves no latex. Clean the area to be sealed with acetone use a big size cotton tip or cotton pads soaked in acetone clean both sides to be glued. Get some sil poxy from smooth-on company.take a wooden dowel and smooth a thin layer on both sides inside the cut. You can also use cello tape to close her up. The staples are a great idea though. I use sewing push pins with the colored round head on top. I cross stitch these along the cut on either side to bring the cut together. You have to be quick using sil poxy it has a work time of ten to 15 minutes depending on temperature and humity.

[HotDiggityDoll]

Question is: once I open her shoulder then what?
Should I have a soldering iron or blowtorch at the ready?

It is likely the nut and bolt visible in this photo are tightening up. You might just need to adjust, with a couple of sockets or box end wrenches. I have done this as a 'minimally invasive' procedure on wrists in the past but the silicone is a bit thicker at the shoulder so exploratory surgery is more likely required.

The nut might just tighten back up again after a while. So you might need to replace the nut and bolt and use a new lock nut (nylon) or lock-tite.

Possibly a broken bolt as well.

First step is exploratory surgery (or try to get Abyss to help out again, they have talked a few people through freeing up frozen joints without surgery)

Also this is an older skeleton so the shoulder skeleton may not be exactly as seen here any longer.

6.jpg (92.56 KiB) Viewed 3845 times

[Rov]

Samara,

thank you so much for all these detailed infos and photo (never seen the inside of a RD before).
Now I know how to proceed.

And of course I was joking about the blowtorch!

Thanks again

Rov

[HotDiggityDoll]

Samara,

thank you so much for ... photo (never seen the inside of a RD before).

You're welcome anyway.

[dodgeman]

Question is: once I open her shoulder then what?
Should I have a soldering iron or blowtorch at the ready?

It is likely the nut and bolt visible in this photo are tightening up. You might just need to adjust, with a couple of sockets or box end wrenches. I have done this as a 'minimally invasive' procedure on wrists in the past but the silicone is a bit thicker at the shoulder so exploratory surgery is more likely required.

The nut might just tighten back up again after a while. So you might need to replace the nut and bolt and use a new lock nut (nylon) or lock-tite.

Possibly a broken bolt as well.

First step is exploratory surgery (or try to get Abyss to help out again, they have talked a few people through freeing up frozen joints without surgery)

Also this is an older skeleton so the shoulder skeleton may not be exactly as seen here any longer.

6.jpg

Yes, the shoulder and elbow joints are still just like you see in the posted BT doll photo. The joint, if not bent in some way, may be burred up between the plates in the joint hinge and just needs a little lube or the bolt has tightened itself a bit to bind up the joint. I have lubed them with a small hypo needle and syringe with a few drops of olive oil buy inserting the needle into the joint, feeling the plates with the needle tip and injecting just a couple of drops of the oil and freed them up! The knees of several dolls I have lubed this way also without cutting the doll open but, it takes patience and to be able to picture the joint in your head as you work on the doll to know what to feel for with the needle! Doing a (small) surgery may be the best way to determine the issue and to gently cut on the mold line just over the top of the joint enough to see down in there and as others have said, the silicone is thick over the shoulder joints depending on the body number or body style!

[HotDiggityDoll]

I have lubed them with a small hypo needle and syringe with a few drops of olive oil buy inserting the needle into the joint, feeling the plates with the needle tip and injecting just a couple of drops of the oil and freed them up!

That's an excellent suggestion.

I'd try that first before cutting her. Just a few shots though, if it isn't working, then on to plan b.

I can see someone missing the joint and trying again, ending up injecting a full bottle full in there.

[dodgeman]

I have lubed them with a small hypo needle and syringe with a few drops of olive oil buy inserting the needle into the joint, feeling the plates with the needle tip and injecting just a couple of drops of the oil and freed them up!

That's an excellent suggestion.

I'd try that first before cutting her. Just a few shots though, if it isn't working, then on to plan b.

I can see someone missing the joint and trying again, ending up injecting a full bottle full in there.

Yes, you would only want to use a very small amount like a few drops directly into the hinge plates from the top of the joint so it will flow into the joint. If too much is oil is used, the excess will run down through the arm between the PVC tube and the arm silicone and can make a mess in there, not good! Olive oil is plant based and not petroleum and so it will not have a reaction with the silicone, I've done this many times over the past few years and it works good, just a couple of drops is all it takes if the joint is dry or burred up a little!

[samara78]

Samara,

thank you so much for all these detailed infos and photo (never seen the inside of a RD before).
Now I know how to proceed.

And of course I was joking about the blowtorch!

Thanks again

Rov

Ks posted the pic i will review the shoulder in the pic and get back to you.