Baseball and Shoulder Dislocation

Health: Baseball and shoulder dislocation. Kevin Plancher, M.D., a leading orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert in the NY metropolitan area, head team physician for the Long Island Lizards, and team doctor for Manhattanville College: “Youth and adult baseball players are at risk for shoulder dislocations. A shoulder dislocation happens when the shoulder is forced upward or backward, resulting in all joint surfaces losing what would normally be their typical contact, or coming out of the socket. Dislocations can be complete or partial. A partial dislocation, or subluxation, means the head of the upper-arm bone, the humerus, moves partly out of the socket and returns back. A complete dislocation means it is all the way out of the socket. Both partial and complete dislocations cause severe pain at the time of the traumatic impact and unsteadiness in the shoulder. It is the lining of the shoulder called the labrum that is injured and often tears. This labrum often needs to be repaired and is what we read about in the media all the time.”