Injury Question

Honor&Glory

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Have any of you had DD's who was diagnosed with a SLAP tear of the labrum of their throwing shoulder?

if so, was she able to rehab and return?

if so, did she have surgery to fix it? was she able to return to form and what was the time frame?

yes, I know each situation is different but I am just looking for something positive about this injury because I can't find it on the web.
 

FastBat

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Good info from Stretch. Good luck with recovery from this injury.
 

tjsmize3

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Have any of you had DD's who was diagnosed with a SLAP tear of the labrum of their throwing shoulder?...
yes, I know each situation is different but I am just looking for something positive about this injury because I can't find it on the web.

H&G, I run a medical practice where I see a decent amount of these each year. Unfortunately you are right, each situation is a little different and the outcome is going to depend on the precise location and extent of the tear. Most of the time you will attempt to rehab these with varying results. If you are lucky after rehab pain will either be gone or minimal and DD can play as there is no absolute requirement to have surgery on this injury. What I have seen though with high-level throwing athletes is that even if the pain is improved after rehab it still tends to bother them or affect their throw because they feel a click/pop or just an odd sensation that something is off in their shoulder. I know of a girl that pitched for the Chill who had one of these and tried to avoid surgery but in the end just never felt "right" until she ended up having the surgery. Now she pitches for a D1 program in FL on scholarship. Best advice to you is to find THE BEST sports medicine specialist in your area and get his/her opinion early. Don't be afraid to get an experienced second opinion, but again, with someone who sees these injuries a lot and with high-level athletes. Good luck!
 

Hilliarddad3

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If you are in Columbus seek out Tom Pomerang at Children's Westerville offices he is one of the best and is on Children's Hospital commercials. He worked wonders with our DD's injuries in getting them back faster.....
 

Honor&Glory

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H&G, I run a medical practice where I see a decent amount of these each year. Unfortunately you are right, each situation is a little different and the outcome is going to depend on the precise location and extent of the tear. Most of the time you will attempt to rehab these with varying results. If you are lucky after rehab pain will either be gone or minimal and DD can play as there is no absolute requirement to have surgery on this injury. What I have seen though with high-level throwing athletes is that even if the pain is improved after rehab it still tends to bother them or affect their throw because they feel a click/pop or just an odd sensation that something is off in their shoulder. I know of a girl that pitched for the Chill who had one of these and tried to avoid surgery but in the end just never felt "right" until she ended up having the surgery. Now she pitches for a D1 program in FL on scholarship. Best advice to you is to find THE BEST sports medicine specialist in your area and get his/her opinion early. Don't be afraid to get an experienced second opinion, but again, with someone who sees these injuries a lot and with high-level athletes. Good luck!

thank you for this post. The pain from her biceps tendon has subsided and rehab had really strengthened her shoulder area (contrast MRI showed no visible rotator cuff damage...actually, the SLAP tear itself was not visible but a cyst did appear which, as you know, is proof of the tear) and her range of motion is getting better. The confusing thing about this is that she had no issues this summer...took a 4 week break from softball during august and first practice back she couldn't throw.

I've done so much research but the one thing I couldn't find were any documented cases or personal stories of anyone who was able to overcome the pain by just rehabbing. all surgeries..and the horror stories of surgeries piling up and issues with scar tissue causing worse pain than the tear itself has me completely terrified. We do have a top rated shoulder specialist here in Cincy treating her. He wants to do as much as possible to avoid surgery...we are only 7 weeks into rehab so I know there's a long way to go but I wanted to ask for advice from the softball community. FYI, my DD is a catcher and is in the biggest year of her recruiting. Again, thank you for your post!
 

lewam3

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thank you for this post. The pain from her biceps tendon has subsided and rehab had really strengthened her shoulder area (contrast MRI showed no visible rotator cuff damage...actually, the SLAP tear itself was not visible but a cyst did appear which, as you know, is proof of the tear) and her range of motion is getting better. The confusing thing about this is that she had no issues this summer...took a 4 week break from softball during august and first practice back she couldn't throw.

I've done so much research but the one thing I couldn't find were any documented cases or personal stories of anyone who was able to overcome the pain by just rehabbing. all surgeries..and the horror stories of surgeries piling up and issues with scar tissue causing worse pain than the tear itself has me completely terrified. We do have a top rated shoulder specialist here in Cincy treating her. He wants to do as much as possible to avoid surgery...we are only 7 weeks into rehab so I know there's a long way to go but I wanted to ask for advice from the softball community. FYI, my DD is a catcher and is in the biggest year of her recruiting. Again, thank you for your post!

Was it and MRI with contrast, or an MRI/arthrogram?
Reason being, MRI/arthrogram is really the gold standard imaging study for labral pathology. If it was an MRI arthrogram, DD would certainly know it because they stick a long needle into her shoulder joint prior to the MRI.
 

Pacerdad57

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I have had that surgery and much more on my shoulder H&G, and just wanted to let you know that there was absolutely no pain associated with mine after surgery. Slap tear, front and back rotators torn, biceps tendon ruptured, end of collar bone removed, basically everything but a new ball joint. To kk no pain meds at all after day one. Had an associate prof from OSU do mine, and the results have been very good, but there was a LOT of therapy.it was worth it. I can throw with the DD again, although at my age I can't recover entirely, mainly just due to age.
it was a very worthwhile surgery for me. This is just to tell you that if it comes to surgery, it isn't the end of the trail, especially with youth on her side.
Whichever route is taken, I truly wish your DD all the best and hope for a quick and speedy full recovery.
best of luck to you all!
 

Honor&Glory

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Was it and MRI with contrast, or an MRI/arthrogram?
Reason being, MRI/arthrogram is really the gold standard imaging study for labral pathology. If it was an MRI arthrogram, DD would certainly know it because they stick a long needle into her shoulder joint prior to the MRI.
yes, it was the arhtrogram...yes, she took the giant needle.

still did not show the SLAP tear but it did show the cyst that comes with.
 

Honor&Glory

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I have had that surgery and much more on my shoulder H&G, and just wanted to let you know that there was absolutely no pain associated with mine after surgery. Slap tear, front and back rotators torn, biceps tendon ruptured, end of collar bone removed, basically everything but a new ball joint. To kk no pain meds at all after day one. Had an associate prof from OSU do mine, and the results have been very good, but there was a LOT of therapy.it was worth it. I can throw with the DD again, although at my age I can't recover entirely, mainly just due to age.
it was a very worthwhile surgery for me. This is just to tell you that if it comes to surgery, it isn't the end of the trail, especially with youth on her side.
Whichever route is taken, I truly wish your DD all the best and hope for a quick and speedy full recovery.
best of luck to you all!



Thank you! I appreciate you sharing your story.
 

Honor&Glory

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Thanks to all who have replied. A quick update...after starting her throwing program as part of her rehab she threw with very little pain or discomfort. However after a few hours it got worse so we went back to the doctor. after a long conversation and an updated exam it appears the labrum tear is not the cause of her pain and that her biceps tendon attached to the labrum is. She was put on a 6 day steroid pak and after a few days her range of motion was 50% better. still painful but able to get her palm to the ground on the sleeper stretch. So we are going to treat the tendinitis for 6 weeks with ice, steroids, rest and rehab and start the throwing program. for the first time since the pain started in August we can kind of see a route to deal with this and keep her in the game. fingers crossed.
 

FastBat

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Thanks for the update! Great news!
 

Pacerdad57

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glad to see that it's non invasive treatment for now.
best of luck with rehab therapy, hoping it dopes the trick for your DD.
 

Honor&Glory

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Update:

Well it got to the point that surgery was needed to fix the pain. Her labrum was in fact torn. 7 - 11 on the clock face. Three anchors needed to tie it back to the bone.

Looking at 6-9 months to recover.

That's the bad news.

The good news is the rotator cuff looked great. The tear did not involve the biceps tendon at all and is positioned just enough away that the tendon will not pull on the repair when she begins rehab and her throwing program.

The blessed news is the school she verballed to is 100% committed to her and her scholarship offer still stands. It has been 6 days post surgery and she has 0 pain at the moment.
 

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