2013 Shoulder Surgery

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2. Has anyone's son been through this and what can be expected for actual length of time for rehab. Can anything (baseball wise) be done during rehab and if so at what time points?

That's going to depend on the doctor and how your son reacts. The doctor will have a protocol in place to follow. Follow doctor's orders to a T and recovery will go much smoother.

My son had the same injury. He dislocated his non-throwing shoulder during a football game. He ended up with Labrum surgery. He was able to hang in there until the end of baseball in August (injury occured in October). Doctor scheduled surgery two days after his final summer league game. He was able to participate in a winter showcase Christmas week. I can't remember when he was able to start swinging a bat again but I do remember that he had about a month to get ready for the showcase. So, I think he was laid up for just over three months in rehab and recovery.

My guess is that the college coaches will not be worried about this injury, at all, and will not be scared off. Of course, be honest with them and they will appreciate the honesty. The surgery is pretty routine and he will have no lasting effects if he rehabs. My son has never once had an issue with his shoulder since the surgery. Like anything else, follow the rehab.

Thank you BB13, Bulldog 19!

He had surgery on Friday (doc moved it up). He is in a lot of pain but in good spirits. Doc said no surprises and will see him in a week.

We have already discussed rehab. Doctor is pretty adament that there is no such thiing as a right way to accelerate rehab. His response, "you can't rush nature". Very consistent with what you have told me, work hard and do exactly what the PT tells him.

Two more questions:

Is lower body a typical part of a shoulder rehab/PT program? Once he is up to it, I would like to see him work on his agility and explosiveness.

Second - Does any one have experience or suggestions on other "non physical" baseball training? Proven... Vision Training, Mental or other non physical baseball skills development programs? 2013 is a kid that thrives/enjoys staying busy and this next 4 months will be a true test for him.

Great news on the surgery! Look at the bright side, his body will get some down time and he'll come back stronger than ever. I can't address your second question but as to the first, yes. My son was doing lots of abs and leg work (after being released to do so by his doctor, of course). He is a pitcher so it ended up being a very good thing. Like a lot of teenage boys, he was more into the "beach muscles...e.g., curls for girls" than he was working on the things that were more important for pitching. So, without being able to do those things, he focused more on the exercises that he tended to neglect. Again, stay in close contact with his doctor. You don't want to rush anything.

Same thing happened to my son. Tackled during the first game jr. year in football. Told by the athletic trainer at the school that it was a deep bruise, Started winter baseball workouts and his shoulder started dislocating. found out after several MRI's it was a torn labrum. Missed his entire jr baseball season. surgery and 7 months of PT, he is cleared to workout. First soft toss after many balls hit off the tee, his shoulder dislocates. Have another appt with the Dr. this week. My son is devastated.


Best of luck...

Shoulders are an enigma. They need lots of healing time because of the low blood flow through the area, yet you can't always tell when the shoulder is feeling well, it can deceive you.

As to doing agility work etc, that's a topic for the doc. Lots of arm swinging and lever action in the shoulder, so even though it's not loaded, it needs a professional opinion.

Follow the rehab protocol. Don't miss and especially don't rush. It's only about how it feels if it feels poorly, never about it feeling like it could do more.

At the time my son had labrum surgery on his throwing shoulder, success rates for power pitchers were around 18%. We were fortunate enough that he beat the odds, but strict adherence to the rehab regime was executed.

Best of luck,
Chip