Radial Nerve Entrapment

CB Son,
Before any surgery is considered, I would definetly get a second opinion, and I would seek out the best for that opinion, which would be an ortho that is invloved with sports injuries.
My son (pitcher) had ulnar nerve entrapment fall of 2010 and after being told that he would be back on the bump in 3 months from surgery, it didn't work out that way and IMO took a lot longer in the healing and rehab process than originally expected.

He may not have to miss out on any opportunities, he may find rehab to be helpful to get him through the recruiting process. Be honest with them, but do not consider an operation at this time unless it is 100% necessary.

pm if you need further information.

quote:

Originally posted by CB Son:

Second, and maybe just rhetorical, after being up front with the Coaches about the injury and with the timing, does this change the interest that Coaches have or will have?

I am not familiar with this malady but if it's any comfort, my son had surgery for a SLAP tear in October of his HS senior year. Everyone we had contact with understood the nature of the injury and the recovery. They had no problems with it at all.

Injuries are part of the game. They all understood. I hope you'll find the same.

Thanks biggerpapi....How did his recovery go and how did it affect the recruiting timeline?

Recovery went right on schedule. Long but it worked. Unfortunately though, I can't be much help to you with the timeline as he had already committed.

However, I can repeat that his future college team and pro guys we heard from, understood the injury and didn't see any problem with it.

Middle son had ulnar nerve transpositioning surgery. Almost 18 months until back to full strength. Nerves take a long time to heal and they don't like being moved around! But it had to happen. Most coaches knew and understood the surgery and the recovery period.

First off - I agree with TPM - get a 2nd opinion and seek a specialist in your area. Perhaps not one suggested by the first guy... Perhaps someone affiliated with a local minor league team or pro athlete in your area... If there's a nerve specialist that would be good. Second - make sure you know which surgery is being suggested - there's a difference between entrapment and transposition (read on). Third, if you go the surgery route - prior to surgery contact the place you're going to do PT and see if they'll see your son throw. That may help them decide upon a treatment plan. The doctor may want you to try PT before surgery and will prescribe a few visits anyway.

I have one son (2009) go through the ulnar transposition surgery during winter of Frosh year. While it relieved the tingling feeling he got when he threw, he also said he knows it's not the same as it used to be. It's been a few years, but I think he was told 3-6 months before he could start PT in order to build strength to throw again. After the surgery he was in a brace that kept his elbow at 90 degrees, so I think you can imagine it takes a bit to get it working again. That Spring he coached his younger brothers youth team and learned how to throw lefty enough to pitch BP... The transposition is a very invasive process as you're essentially taking that "funny bone" nerve that runs outside the elbow in the inside of your arm and moving it into a channel inside the elbow. This means disconnecting a ligament there and "scraping" any elbow debris.

I have another son (2014) go through the ulnar decompression surgery prior to last summer (what are the odds, I know). Anyway, that surgery was quite a bit less intrusive and involved only opening up the channel in which the nerve runs along to the elbow. He was able to start PT about 8 weeks after surgery and by last Fall was able to throw again. Towards late fall he even pitched a few innings - very low pitch count. This Spring and Summer no recurrences of the original problem - although he threw a lot more this year than ever before. Funny he was more a catcher through youth ball and we never had him pitch - now he's pitches and doesn't catch. One of the things noticed through PT was a mechanical flaw in his motion that they helped fix. Its something I noted at one time, but god knows I'm "just" a parent and I know nothing, so he wouldn't change for me, but did change as a result of PT.

As I told the OP, my son had issues after his nerve transposition. It's not, IMO, a 3 month recovery. I would go more with the 18 months until he felt almost normal.

My suggestion is to get through the recruiting process then take care of business because it may take longer than expected for full recovery. oth test son had were done with a nerve specialist. The tests are pretty accurate, but you need the right surgeon.

Guys and Gals.......Thanks for the feedback. 2013 is going through pt now. He has another MRI on his shoulder and then scheduled to see a nerve specialist in Charlotte after Thanksgiving.
He has contacted the coaches to let them know and all have been supportive.
As one of the members of the board says:
"The journey continues."

CB Son,
Keep us posted!

s aalot depends on how serious the schools are that are recruiting him
are by talking seriously?