Looking for advice ...

My son is 12 and is in his last year of LL. He has played Allstars all three years. The AS coach approached my husband and I to let us know that he would like him to be on his team. The coach also inquired about his shoulder injury from 3 weeks ago. He said he would like him for 2nd base.

3 weeks ago my son injured his shoulder (he heard a pop) but when we took him to the doctor the xray was fine. We sat him out for 2 wks but now that it is close to AS picks the coaches are inquiring about his arm. His arm has full mobility and does not hurt except when he has a ball in his hand and throws a long distance. It doesn't hurt to bat or anything else. We have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Friday and AS picks are Sunday.

We have prepped our son that we may withdraw his name from consideration and of course he is extremely upset, as we are.

Has anyone experienced anything like this injury? All advice welcome. Thank you.

i woould first make sure i was going to see a sports dr. not a regular orthapedist. a regular orthapedist answer is usually negative. regarding shoulder problems i have has 3 seperations and one operation.

i know am paying the price with pain, but i'd do it all over.

if the shoulder just popped out and popped in that should not be a big deal. only an mri can tell you that.

i'm not a dr. but when you dislocate the shoulder it sometimes shos a propensity of repeating itself and sometimes it's just a freak thing.

so i'd stay positive and make sure to see a sports specialist.

just my humble opinion and personal experiances.

GY,
Let me try to understand this. Your son heard a pop 3 weeks ago in his shoulder, you sat him out for two weeks after the doc said he was ok(what kind of doctor did you take him to). It still hurts when he throws a long distance yet you are upset that the coaches are inquiring about how he is feeling and he may not be able to play?

JMO, he shouldn't play if anything hurts him.

And we spend time debating why players at 15,16 and up are having so many surgeries?

I understand that at 12, playing in your last LL All Star Game may be very important, but parents need to really think about what may be important at 12 might be very insignificant to what he may miss later on.

I'm not upset at the coach.

I took him to our pediatrician and an orthopedic doctor read the xray.

I'm taking him to an orthopedic specialist who is part of a group and was referred to me by the pediatrician. I don't know if he specializes in sports but he is the doctor that treats children in the practice with sports injuries.

My first advice would be to avoid double posts in different threads. It makes it hard to keep track of all replies.

More to the point, no one here can diagnose your son's injury over the internet. Even if someone can offer experience with the same symptoms (pop, two weeks rest, still some pain on long throws), there is no good reason to believe that the two injuries are actually the same. You're about to receive medical advice from a orthopedist who will examine your son; why not follow that advice?

Now, suppose that you don't get definitive advice from the doc. Here's what I would do (I daresay others would handle this differently): I would not give the player any pain or anti-inflammatory medicine on Thursday or Friday. Then I'd have him attempt 2nd baseman-type throws. His body will tell him whether he can play or not. I believe that our bodies do pretty well at avoiding further self-damage to injuries, as long as one doesn't trick the body with pain masking agents. Of course that means no pain medication while practicing for or playing All Stars.

Regarding All Stars, they are fun. But unless the team goes to Williamsport, the details will be pretty much forgotten within a couple of years. At least that's been my sons' experience. For one son, baseball isn't important anymore; for the other, subsequent triumphs, failures, and drama have eclipsed his exploits in Little League. I certainly recommend that your son not try to "gut it out" if he is in noticeable pain.

I only double posted because I did not see the "injury" category at first.

I guess the reason I did post is because it is difficult to wait until Friday to meet with the specialist so I just wanted to hear feedback from people.

We will definately go with the recommendation of the specialist and I have already told my son that. Deep down I guess I realize that he won't be playing AS this year but I was just kind of hoping he could because it is always fun. His health and his future are what are most important so I guess I was being unrealistic to think he could play AS.

I know AS is minor event in his life when you look at the big picture but on an emotional level it is difficult.

So I guess I should have titled my post "Support Needed" not Advice Needed because I will be going with whatever the specialist recommends.

Thanks for the replies.