Stafford Baseball Performance - Personal Account: Labrum Tear Rehabilitation

Personal Account: Labrum Tear Rehabilitation

It is called one of the most fearsome injuries in baseball. It has often been called a career ender. The slow knife to the shoulder. The list goes on, but the main thing is the labrum tear can derail a pitchers career.. Different from the more popular tommy john surgery. A torn shoulder labrum deals with torn tissue surrounding the humeral shoulder head. This tear limits a pitchers range of motion and can often cause a significant amount of pain and loss of strength during the throwing motion. Before I dive into my personal experience and personal rehab account, let it be known that I am not a certified physical therapist or doctor. I am just a guy who wants to present current knowledge on the topic and give athletes a means for rehab post surgery.

My current injury actually did not even happen on the baseball field. Having a fairly successful career and not undergoing any injuries from youth baseball all the way into pro ball my injury rehab experience was fairly inexperienced. Besides the occasional muscle impingement or tightness, I had never experienced any serious types of injuries. During the 2018 offseason I had the misfortune of injuring my shoulder during an awkward fall . This injury derailed my career as I was released after a failed rehab and rest attempt. I continued to intensely rehab my shoulder for six months with no success. I was barely able to throw 90 feet and could not even think about getting on the mound. After consulting a few different surgeons, I underwent a procedure in 2018 to repair a SLAP (Superior Labrum from Anterior to Posterior) and posterior labrum tear in my shoulder. This injury basically looked like a tear from 1:6 on a clock down the back of my shoulder. Even with the significant amount of damage my surgeon felt fairly positive about my chances for recovery.

Currently I am four months into my rehab and my shoulder feels amazing. I am waiting another month and a half to start a rehab throwing program, but as far as my pro career it is most likely over. I have enjoyed every moment of my playing career, but now I am shifting my focus into the coaching realm. If anything positive which I can take away from this injury experience is my new knowledge of how to train and rehab the shoulder. There is a lot of false knowledge going around about the success rate of the surgery, but from my experience it seems to still be the best option out there for pitchers with shoulder injuries. With that said, I am still a big proponent of trying to rehab the injury without surgery. Be sure to look through every option before undergoing the knife.

3/20/2019

-Michael Stafford

Rehab Process

Through my early stages of rehab, I followed as strict protocol given to me by my therapist. I followed this to a tee for the first two months out from surgery. This mainly involved light stretching to return my range of motion. Eventually I would start with isolation and grip exercises. This then would progress into regular band work and continued increase in range of motion. At about four months out I decided to add extra work into my regimented therapy. This included light plyo-ball and wrist weight work, taken from Driveline Baseball. Along with more detailed arm patterning to return my range of motion. This was added to my daily band, dumbbell, body-blade, core and kettle-bell work. By consistently rehabbing and adding extra work, I was able to start my throwing program early. I started at about 5 ½ months, when most would start at the end of 6 ½-7 months. I am currently out to about 90 feet on my throwing program and testing out some of the most modern methods of baseball rehab.

Currently I am following the regimented throwers 10 program popularized by Dr. Andrews of the Andrews institute (Basic Rehab Protocol), and an interval throwing program. Currently the interval program I am following is a very basic progressive program which will work out to 180' over 12 weeks. (*See Phase 1 below). Along with this I am also adding to the exercises with popular movement and stability training along with a more up to date interval throwing program.This consists of light arm patterning and plyo-ball work before entering into the regimented daily throwing program. So far my arm feels great, better than it has in over a year! I am at about 6 ½ months and already out to about 90 feet. Although my pro career is over, I am excited to see how implementing new methods can help expand my knowledge moving into the coaching realms.

*All throwing days are to be performed after a proper warm up, rehab exercises, and stretching routine.

*40-60 % RPE (Rate of Perceived Effort)

*Follow with post throwing recovery work

PHASE 1 – LONG TOSS

Each step is performed 2-3 times (in one week) pain free

Step 1 2x20 @ 45’

Step 2 3x20 @ 45’

Step 3 2x20 @ 60’

Step 4 2x20 @ 60’ and 1x20 @ 75’

Step 5 2x25 @ 90’

Step 6 2x25 @ 90’ and 1x25 @ 105’

Step 7 2x25 @ 120’

Step 8 2x25 @ 120’ and 1x25 @ 135’

Step 9 2x20 @150’

Step 10 2x20 @ 150’ and 1x20 @ 165’

Step 11 2x20 @ 180’

Step 12 3x20 @ 180’

*As a disclaimer I am not a physical therapist, nor am I a licensed surgeon. I am just a coach and instructor hungry to find the best possible method to rehab my own personal shoulder. It is my suggestion that before adopting any new methods, please consult a doctor and do the proper research.

4/17/2019

Author,

Michael Stafford

References

Fealy, S., MD. (2010). Shoulder Labrum Tears: An Overview. Retrieved 2019, from

https://www.hss.edu/conditions_shoulder-labrum-tears-overview.asp (Image)

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