Another SLAP tear thread

Sorry to hear that. However, I would suggest surgery sooner than later. The labrum will not heal/repair itself with rehab. Full recovery could be anywhere from 6 months to a year. As a parent of such an injured player, you don't want the recovery process to coincide with recruiting high times during junior and senior years. Just my opinion.

I had "tendonitis" in February and played my entire senior season with it. I couldn't tell you if I had already partially torn it, but I wouldn't doubt it. I played first base and did limited throwing all season. The week after state playoffs I went through a tryout for a select team as a catcher. That's the first time I threw hard for a long period of time and the next week I couldn't throw 15 ft on a line. Had slap repair a month or so later My concern as a player would be not being able to throw at a 100% all season. If that isn't possible I don't know how it would be productive to play with a less than 100% arm for an entire season. Also, throwing is the ONLY pain I had before surgery. Occasionally I felt a click here or there but nothing painful. Even a throwing motion without a baseball had no pain. Everyone is different but now is better than later imo. Good luck! The process goes by faster than you believe, which I wasn't expecting.

Thanks for the responses. I have been told whether surgery is done now (or in the next 2-3 weeks) vs. trying a few weeks of rehab and then giving throwing a shot (in that case surgery in 2 months or so)this season is out in both cases and at least he can say he gave it a shot. As his father I am so torn about what to do. He loves baseball so much and I hate this happened playing JV football. Please keep responses coming and I will update how it goes and if decision changes.

Son is going the same route. College pitcher had two well regarded orthos recommend against surgery as a starting point with same rationale (surgery now or later would still end season). Also, other than MRI indications, shoulder was relatively strong and stable during the physical tests. Still devastating news for a potentially draftable pitcher. Has had six weeks of rest and stretching with light throwing starting next week.

67Sox, thanks for the reply. Will keep your son in thoughts (and prayers) as he has alot more at stake than mine. Update his progress and outcome and I will do the same. Maybe it will help someone else. Hard to find much information besides just doing surgery.

Also, this kinda goes along with this thread. I am a pharmacy professor so I dont have alot of confidence in them however I plan to give a nutritional supplement (chondroitin, glucosamine, MSM)a try. If it goes well, well maybe something to it. We will see.

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Originally posted by Saints1:
Also, this kinda goes along with this thread. I am a pharmacy professor so I dont have alot of confidence in them however I plan to give a nutritional supplement (chondroitin, glucosamine, MSM)a try. If it goes well, well maybe something to it. We will see.

Asked our son's surgeon and he said there were no peer-reviewed literature indicating the supplements worked better than placebo. However he said they would not hurt to try.

My recommendation for surgery now is all about timing. Very few sophomores are being recruited, especially during spring school season. The longer you wait to do the inevitable the longer before he is back at or near 100%. PT and rest is only going to reduce inflammation and associated pain, not fix the root of the problem. Pain will come back with hard throwing if it is truly a SLAP tear.

Clemson896, the surgeon is right. There are no large well done studies showing efficacy but they are at least safe and worth a shot. And I do appreciate where you are coming from. I'm torn because in reality he will not be drafted or "heavily" recruited but he may have a shot at small Div I school or lower. On the other hand maybe he doesn't and can play some or at least DH this year and not lose one of the only 3 years he has left.

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PT and rest is only going to reduce inflammation and associated pain, not fix the root of the problem.

Not necessarily. It sounds like surgery is an expected process; it's just a matter of timing. It wouldn't hurt to do rehab before surgery because it will build up strength which will be beneficial for post-surgery..

My nephew also went through the same problem...We thought of choosing rehab rather than surgery first..And near about 1 week he continued with the rehab,but there was no recovery or relaxment..So we consulted the doctor and finally the only option left was surgery..He had done with the surgery now and is all well..slowly he is recovering.

Started rehab this week. Shoulder is strong and no instability. Plan on 3-4 weeks rehab and then try throwing. Will update then. A sincere thanks for your responses and I wish you all the best in your recoveries.

Just thought I would add an update. Son did and continues PT focusing on strengthening area around the shoulder. Started throwing about 3 weeks ago or so and up to 90' for about 10 throws. Says on occasion he will feel "something" toward rear of shoulder. Shorter throws (up to 60) says essentially feels nothing. Hoping get to 120 or so (all he needs to throw) and get thru season and go from there.

My 15 year old had grade 2 labrum tear repaired by James Andrews in October 2011. Tried PT before they even diagnosed it. We were told surgery was only option and went ahead with it. My son feels great and is almost done with his hitting program. Began throwing program a few weeks ago and is expected to follow the program for two months or so. Then he is supposed to be able to play in the field. Pitching takes about a year recovery from our understanding. Not that anxious to have him pitch anyway. Andrews is in Florida and Birmingham. After surgery you follow up with a local PT place. He knows his stuff!!!!!!!! My son has been pain free since the initial pain of surgery resolved (about a month post surgery). It is a very painful surgery but ice and pain meds. got him through it.

Good luck with your son!

Update: Started the season about 10 days ago. Caught first game of the year and shoulder was "sore" for a couple days. No issues batting. Long story short, rehab as far as being able to throw didn't go as well as we hoped. Coach is former 10yr MLB pitcher and not gonna push the issue. Says he will DH him for now and go from there. Not ideal I know but son seems OK with it and just wants to do what he can. Hit his first 2 varsity homers yesterday and he's happy. Will get surgery end of high school season and recover and rehab over summer and fall. Good luck to all.

For what it's worth, my son wasted 6 - 8 weeks trying to rehab a grade 2 labrum tear before undergoing surgery. The timing may have been critical, as it threw his post-op rehabilitation into a schedule that prevented him from being prepared in time for the following year's spring training; leading, ultimately, to the end of what had seemed to be a promising professional career up until his injury.

Based upon his and others' difficulty in getting any relief from mere rehabilitation, it's hard for me to support anything other than going ahead and having the surgery.

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Originally posted by Prepster:
... it's hard for me to support anything other than going ahead and having the surgery.

I chatted briefly with your son at Terpville on Saturday before game. Not sure it was a two-way conversation.

Also, be 'lucky' it was 6-8 weeks. Injury was mis-diagnosed for 18 months before release at spring training.

^I completely agree with Prepster and others that have echoed his sentiment. If surgery is determined to be a definite in the future, what's the point of waiting?

Son (2012) is almost 7 months post-op now. He has completed the PT, rehab, and throwing protocol. Last week he saw the outfield for the first time since August. We are very glad we sought a second opinion and had the surgery immediately rather than 3 weeks of PT, followed by reassessment. It cost him in recruiting but he is happy with his selection for next year (UT-Tyler).

2015 son came home two and weeks ago from pitcher practice and said should was sore. Had practice three days after that and shoulder was sore again. Took him to the ortho .And his thoughts were tendonitis. Told him to rest for a week. Went back to practice today and was in pain 20 throws in. Made another apt with ortho for tomorrow. What should I expect the ortho will tell us next?

nhsbball- Welcome to the HSBBWeb. Hopefully the orthopedist will tell you that he will schedule an MRI to evaluate the injury further. Good luck to your son.

^^+1, with contrast

Just as an FYI when you are talking about timing and rehab. Junior had slap repair after his freshman college season. Was able to return to the mound by the third weekend of the next regular season and re entered the starting rotation after the 5th week (approx. April 1). However, as a pitcher, he did not regain his full velocity that season. Previously, he had been 90-93 mph, and pitched his whole soph season at 84-86. By fall of his junior year, Sept/Oct, he had regained his previous velocity plus (accounting for physical maturity) and was 93-94 mph.

So, when considering rehab timing, understand that being cleared to play/pitch is not necessarily indicative of when the player may/will return to previous form.

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So, when considering rehab timing, understand that being cleared to play/pitch is not necessarily indicative of when the player may/will return to previous form.

Excellent advice!

i hope everybody here and their sons get the right advice before they do further damage or end up changing their mechanics.
regarding the slap tear, it is still a fairly new diagnosis from what i gather. i went a long time with mine, didn't see the right doc. but i played though it and got away with it because i play 2nd. but what i ended up doing was compensating and trying to relieve the pain in my shoulder and almost short arming the ball and using more elbow action in my throws. not good at all. but since it truly didn't effect any other part of my daily life or even my swing i just dealt with the pain when i had to make a hard or long throw.
i didn't know what my issue truly was until i asked a new doc(sports specialist) about getting a cortisone shot(my 3rd), he was against it for all the right reasons, i just wanted to finish my playoffs. he did some tests and pretty much knew right away it was a slap tear, but you need to get an MRI with dye. its the only way to confirm.
he also told me that no amount of physio will repair a torn labrum. surgery is the only option to repair it.
so i waited until after the following season due to wait times, had it done the end of oct 2011.
sling for approx 5 weeks. then PT starts. to be honest its very painful for at least the first 2 months. but you have to be very strict with PT. i started hitting after 4 months but made sure i was careful. i started throwing after approx 6 months. very slow process and made sure i didn't over do it. i am still under a year since my surgery but i feel like my arm is much better/stronger and i am glad i had it done. and i don't expect to be able to throw like i used to until at least until next season. so please keep that in mind for pitchers.
ps. everybody will heal at their own pace. i followed dr. walter lowe's throwing program
good luck

Thread starter(yeah have 2 sigs since forgot password). My son finally had surgery on July 27th which made it almost 9 months since diagnosis. He ended up needing 6 anchors (11-5:30 tear). Biceps tendon and rotator cuffs looked great so probably why he made it through high school season and some summer ball. Long story short shoulder never bothered him much; some soreness of course. And he wouldnt change a thing. After first 3 weeks of season caught every game of varsity season on a team that made it to state semifinals (farthest a team from our school has gone in over 20 years)and played in the 16u WWBA in Atlanta and made all tourney team as a hitter. Now he is starting rehab to be ready for February. Will try and post periodic updates

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Will try and post periodic updates

Glad you're keeping us up-to-date. Do you have him supplementing as well, and if so, what is the supplement cocktail?

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Originally posted by joemktg:

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Will try and post periodic updates

Glad you're keeping us up-to-date. Do you have him supplementing as well, and if so, what is the supplement cocktail?

To answer your question he took about month's worth of the advocare joint supplement at the beginning of the season. After surgery I "made" him take the supplement again for about a week then just left it out to take if he wants to.
Hard to find hard literature to back it up but I did some research and think 1500mg daily of glucosamine and 1-2 grams of MSM may help. Worst case it does nothing and just wasting money. Wouldn't pay for anything else

Just keep up the hard work and keep positive. It's been almost a year since my son had his surgery. Played his senior year of spring ball and was disappointed in reduced velo and effects of missing all of the hitting practice. But, just this last weekend we went out with the radar gun and he was pleased to see that he was back to pre-surgery velo. Should be an exciting freshman year of college ball for him!!!!