Baseball requires a lot of swinging of the shoulders, both at the batter’s end as well as the pitcher’s end. The pitcher aims to throw a baseball at the maximum speed possible while the batter is waiting to swing his bat at the greatest velocity to toss the incoming baseball into the greatest distance.
However, in the middle of all of this, it is not uncommon to see baseball players incur shoulder injuries. Since most of the force of all swinging comes from the shoulders, they are most prone to an injury during a baseball game.
Minor shoulder injuries may take simply take a few days of rest to heal, but if you have suffered a more serious injury, such as a shoulder dislocation, you will have to follow a different regimen.
Can I play after shoulder dislocation?
The most immediate question in your mind, if you have suffered a shoulder dislocation during a baseball game, will surely be: can you or can’t you play baseball anymore? The good news is that although this depends on the exact nature of the injury, most baseball players tend to be able to start playing baseball again soon after recovering from a shoulder dislocation.
In most cases, a player will be required to rest a few months before playing again after such an injury. In very rare cases, the dislocation injury may be serious enough to bar a player from playing baseball at all.
Precautions after a shoulder dislocation
To be able to play baseball as soon as possible after a shoulder dislocation, you must take up a rigorous routine that will strengthen the shoulder. The most fundamental thing to consider here is that the muscles around your shoulders need to be strengthened.
Once a shoulder has been dislocated, there is a great chance that you will suffer another dislocation in the future. The best way to avoid this is to strengthen the shoulder and avoid in any strenuous work which may strain the shoulder while you are still recovering.
It is a good idea, at this point, to consult doctors and specialists who would recommend you a proper regimen and certain exercises which will be helpful at this stage. Remember, the sooner you bring your shoulder back to its actual strength, the sooner you will be able to play baseball. So after a shoulder dislocation put your entire focus on healing the shoulder and recovering its strength.
Risks in playing baseball after shoulder dislocation
The problem with a shoulder dislocation is that depending on your age and the nature of your injury, it is very likely to get a dislocation a second or third time. In fact, if you haven’t sufficiently strengthened and healed your shoulder before putting it into active work, you may run the risk of suffering from dislocation issues for many subsequent months or years.
In some cases, players who start playing baseball again without sufficient shoulder healing go on to suffer dislocation issues even when throwing a baseball. So the risk of recurrence is very high if the shoulder isn’t well healed, strengthened and recovered after such an injury. And if you start rigorous sports before proper healing, you may end up permanently damaging the shoulder.
Exercise to strengthen dislocated shoulders
If you are serious about going back to proper baseball play despite a shoulder dislocation, you have to pay some serious attention to your shoulder. Immediately after the injury, get a shoulder immobilizer and make sure no strain or pressure whatsoever comes on your injured shoulder.
This should continue well after your shoulder has been repositioned in its proper place by a doctor. The next thing is to strengthen the shoulder. To this end, take up a healthy diet routine and at the same time, consult specialists for the right exercises to strengthen the injured shoulder.
These exercises will ideally be simply and will aim at stretching the shoulder to recover its strength. It will take time, but if you regularly do these exercises, you will be able to get it back to its original strength. Like everything worthwhile, it takes time, but that’s the only way to restore a shoulder to such a strength that you may be able to play baseball with it again.
Buck up
If you have incurred a shoulder dislocation injury but are passionate about baseball, know this that you can regain the shoulder strengthen to be able to play baseball again. It will take time; it will take a significant amount of energy on your part to tend to your shoulder and strengthen it slowly and over time. But once it is done, your shoulder will be sufficiently strong again to allow you to throw, bat and field as actively and as well as any other player.
