Shoulder Surgery SLAP Repair

Most of ya’ll know I’ve been off the water now for close to four months (actually it was 109 days ago when I last had a sail in my hands). SLAP is an acronym for Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior.

I suffered a pretty significant SLAP labral tear on this jump during my epic News Years Day Sesh

Click on the photo to view in the full screen shot

I was overpowered on my 3.6, and caught way more altitude than I expected. As I left the ramp, I started to kick the board away, but the front foot was stuck in the strap, so I held onto the sail and tried to make the best of it.

When I landed, the board obviously accelerated-and the sail powered up. Not a pretty scenario huh?

It was violent. The two most common mechanisms of injury causing SLAP lesions are compression forces such as would occur when attempting to catch a heavy, falling object and traction forces. Basically the labrum is attached to the biceps. and is a big part of what keeps your arm, or more specifically, the head of the humerus, in the socket.

A SLAP tear or lesion occurs when there is damage to the superior or uppermost area of the labrum. SLAP lesions have come into public awareness with their increasing frequency in overhead and particularly throwing athlet

The labrum is the last defense against dislocation. Labrum injuries are essentially a traction injury-or a violent tug on the arm and shoulder. Well, it my shoulder didn’t dislocate, but the labrum was completely torn as you can see in this picture, especially the left column, 2nd from the top. Uggh.... that’s gotta hurt eh?

Well, my rehab is coming along great. As I said, I've been off the water for 109 days now. Its been 64 days since my shoulder was scoped, and as of today, I  have about 10 days to go before I have medical clearance to rig up! What can I say, I play a CPA on tv, but in real life, I'm a windsurfer. ;)

My doctor is extremely pleased with my progess. I highly recomend Potomac Valley Orthopedics . Specifically, Dr Douglas Murphy is an extremely gifted surgeon. In addition to the excellent labral repair, his after-care and follow-up attention is far better than anything I’ve ever experienced before when I’ve been hurt. I feel blessed to have chosen him to do the repair, and I give him my unqualified endorsement.

In addition, my therapist is doing his best to not express too much satisfaction with my progress, lest I interpret that to be a premature green light to rig up. Speaking of physical therapy, Calvert Physical Therapy and Sports Fitness Center rocks, and I highly recomnend them. The director, Michael Kuegler, PT worked wonders with my shoulder. I'm telling you,the day after my first therapy session, the difference was amazing. Stoked!

Where is that fedex truck?? My new gear from RRD is arriving any day now!!

cya on the water May 1st

Live2sail