Softball Injury - Rotator Cuff

[Joker]

When your DD was rehabbing how often did she rehab or strengthen it? My DD is done with the therapy at the office, now she is supposed to be on the home program, but those are just band exercises.. I didn't know if you had a set list of exercises she did or that they gave to you.. Her tear only included her cuff and not her labrum, and she is not a pitcher, ,but her arm strength is just not there.. Maybe I should talk to a trainer along with her Doctor and see if there is a list of more strengthening exercises she can do.. Also she had issues with it popping out before the surgery, instability I think they said, so I don't know if we should be stretching those muscle, or can we just strengthen them. Also does your DD do any special stretches or exercises before she plays in the game, something that she didn’t do before, but find helps her now?

I'm glad to hear your DD is doing good and it gives me hope that mine will get better..

 

[GOINGDEEP]

The rehab she did after the year off was 3 days a week. ( I think my ins pays for 60 visits a year per person ) She did the office PT for about 3 months and then gradually got off it ( once a week ) into the home stuff. Yes we got the "band" worksheets, did them maybe 2 weeks. ( DD said the bands were boring lol )

We just did simple stuff on the side. Tossing a tennis ball across the living room. Moved outside tossed softballs short distance 15 ft, week or so later 20', then 25' , so on........ You're trying to loosen those tendons, ligaments, muscles back up........SLOWLY. Lots of heat, warm baths or sit in a hot tub. The heat expands the muscles and tissue and allows the nutrients to get in.

My DD's popped too. I could place my hand over her shoulder and she could simply rotate the shoulder and pop pop pop. Yes, I'd look into a licensed sports trainer. We got a lot of "free" advice because our ( city ) minor league BB team's trainer goes to church with my brother.

Also does your DD do any special stretches or exercises before she plays in the game

Of coarse, she stretches her hand out....palm up....and asks for a $20.

No, she doesn't do anything besides normal "team" warm up drills. We do keep the arm and shoulder warm as possible when she is not on the field. ( mines a pitcher, but it probably would be a good idea for you to do the same during the cooler months. )

Give you a quick timeline:
At the end of HS ball 2010 she was hitting almost 60 mph, by end June it was mid 50's, before we got diagnosed she was lucky to hit 50.

Sat out a year. Did PT until December 2011.

Started slowly throwing overhand and under December 2011. Started pitching about mid February and was humming a whopping 48-49. Haha By mid March she was about 55, mid April 57-58, mid May back at 60.

Summer ball she was cruising 59-60 and hit 63 couple of times. This is our down time for pitching. Start back up after the holidays. I'm anxious to see what she can do this spring. She says the arm feels great.

 

[Bill Bollinger]

One thing I would also recommend is to find a trainer. It is in times like this where she can improve her other physical strength. It should also help improve on her recovery time of her shoulder. So when she does come back at 100% she will actually be better physically than when she went into the injury. It will be a hard sell to her because most kids have a hard time seeing value in "time", but if you can get her focused on something else it has the possibility of actually benefiting her development.

Bill

 

[bcasper10]

We are beginning almost the same journey. DD is having a MRI today for a tear in her labrum on her non-throwing shoulder. She has an issue for two years and was never diagnosed correctly. She would have numbness in her arm after pithching and after several Dr visits, xrays, and MRI's the only diagnosis that was given was a nerve issue. Now after bad pain in her shoulder and 4 Dr's later we hopefully have found the initial problem. Doc is 90% sure of the tear with the evaluation. DD is in bad shape mentally. She is about to turn 16 and it is her first year at 18u. Missed two showcases already and apparently will be missing the showcase in Florida and HS season if she gets surgery.

Be careful with injuries. Do your research on the Dr's that you are going to see. Find a specialist for the specific area injured. Travel if you have to because in the long run it will save alot of pain and effort. We have had a bumpy road and I believe that if we would have seen the last Dr 2 years ago we would have had a chance to fix the issue before it got real bad.

 

[Country Boy]

This is probably no value as I am 46 and don't heal as fast as a teenager, but... I had Rotator Cuff surgery in Nov 2010. Was over a year before I could throw with any strength and accuracy. Has now been 2 years and I am 90% back. But I'm old and not aggressively training. I can't imagine being ready after 3 months or even 6.

 

[Joker]

I agree finding the right doctor is everything.. The first one that found the tear after the dye MRI, just wanted to do therapy, which I questioned and asked specifically if it will fix the tear, he said yes.. 6 weeks she wasn't better, she missed most of the summer travel games. Finally went to a second doctor and he said cuff tears don't heal on their own, unless you just don't move your shoulder altogether. I about passed out in the doctor’s office, I was so pissed that we wasted 6 weeks of rehab for nothing, when we could of had the surgery and she could have been on the road to recovery. So we scheduled the surgery and I let her play all her shoulder could take until surgery. When asked why she was playing I said she has missed enough, and if she hurts it more or it falls off they will fix it and reattach it during surgery. It has been hard on her mentally, but so far she hasn't given up.. The doctor first released her to hit, so we worked on hitting a lot, which is something she is week in.. So that kept her mind off of throwing. We worked on fielding without throwing as well. Finding things to keep their minds off of throwing or things they can't do is key, I have to remind my DD every day, you can still do this and still do that. Hearing from others who have gone thru this has helped me feel better about our decision to shut down for a couple more months.

Injuries are hard, and what is right for one is not always right for another, it just takes time and patience I guess.

 

[GOINGDEEP]

Please take the time to keep us posted on her progression. Others can help in that regard too.

 

[JAD]

My DD was just diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain sprain.....fortunately for us, the doctor thinks taking a couple of weeks off should do the trick, and Christmas break could not come at a better time! We are shutting it down completely for the rest of the year and should be ready to resume indoor workouts the first week of January.

 

[MaverickAH]

I'm no expert, but I would guess that the recovery time for a female athlete would be different due to having less bone & muscle density than a male.

I know of my own experiences with rotator cuff problems & I would advise that if you want your daughter to make a complete recovery, you should shut he down for the next 3 to 4 months. I would also advise you to pick up a book titled, The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution. I found it to be an invaluable tool in my recovery as well as an ongoing help in maintaining proper rotator cuff health.

IMHO, if she tries to play while recoverying, she'll never completely recover! I would also recommend doing an analysis on her throwing motion to correct any mechanical flaws. She needs to be coming "over the top" to reduce strain & have a maintainence regime in place for continued health.

 

[Silicon5]

It is sad but also very valuable to read all these information from other parents of pitchers. I have 2 DDs who play and pitch and they are very young and just starting out pitching. I am trying to learn as much as possible about injuries and prevention so we can be prepared as they get older.
I also have a regional blog about softball related to the area we live in where I try to put all the info I learn.
Thanks for the information.
RGSpaulding
Silicon Valley Girls Softball | My Softball blog