Love At Physical Therapy

It's Just A Labral Tear

Jeongyeon fidgeted in the plastic chair at the doctor's office, her knee bouncing nervously as the wait for the doctor dragged on. How long did it take to read a damn X-ray? Shouldn't Dr Song have been here by now?

"Can you sit still?" Seungyeon scolded. "You're making me nervous with all your fidgeting."

"Unnie, what if it's something serious?"

Jeongyeon couldn't help but worry. Her shoulder hadn't been right for weeks now, sometimes locking up completely, rendering her unable to make a simple throw. What if she could never play baseball again?

"Jeong, everything is going to be ok. Dr Song knows what she's doing. Try to relax alright?" Seungyeon smiled and gave her arm a comforting squeeze.

Jeongyeon blew out a breath and tried to follow her sister's advice. The pain in her right shoulder was at least bearable for now. She'd been extra careful with her movements the last few days, hoping to keep it from getting any worse.

Jeongyeon had been taking pain meds for weeks to keep everything under control and hoping that the problem would solve itself. In hindsight, that was incredibly stupid but she'd been scared and decided ignoring the problem was easier. The final straw had been the hit from Dahyun. They'd been joking around as usual after practice, telling jokes that only her and her friends found funny.

Dahyun must have really enjoyed her lame mom joke because she slapped  Jeongyeon hard on her right shoulder, doubling over in a fit of laughter. Jeongyeon doubled over right with her, except it was due to the excruciating pain that radiated through her shoulder and down her arm. Now here she was three days later, waiting to see what was wrong.

A sharp knock on the door alerted them and they turned to see Dr Song come in holding an X-ray.

"Alright Ms. Yoo I have the results of your X-ray. Let's take a look shall we?" Dr Song smiled kindly then turned to a machine on the wall and slotted a black, translucent film into it. She flipped a switch and Jeongyeon's shoulder came to life on the film.

"This here," Dr Song said as she pointed to a spot near her rotator cuff, "is your labrum. And if you look closely, you can see there's a small tear just here. You have what's known as superior labrum from anterior to posterior, or SLAP tear for short."

Jeongyeon didn't really catch most of that, all she heard was the word 'tear'. And if there was a tear in her shoulder, that wasn't good at all.

"It's a common injury among baseball players such as yourself so don't fret too much," Dr Song said.

"What are our treatment options?" Seungyeon asked.

"It depends on the severity of the tear. Some only require physical therapy and rest, while others needs surgery."

Jeongyeon balked at that. She'd seen teammates go through surgeries before. It would most likely put her out for months and she didn't want that at all.

"How bad is it?" Jeongyeon asked hesitantly, nodding to the still illuminated X-ray. Dr. Song glanced at the X-ray then smiled again. Her gentle demeanor was helping Jeongyeon not feel so anxious.

"You're lucky Ms Yoo. It seems your tear is small and won't require surgery," Dr Song said. At her words, all the tension in Jeongyeon melted away.

"We'll get you set up with physical therapy and go from there. As long as therapy goes well, you should be back on the field within two months."

"Two months?" Jeongyeon exclaimed, startling both older women. Seungyeon shot her a warning glare.

"Thank you Dr Song. It's a relief to know she'll be able to get better," Seungyeon said as she rose and shook hands with the older woman.