By Claire Castellon
After five shoulder dislocations in Germany and the USA, and a physical therapy regimen that did not solve the problem, I had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in January 2023. I was 17 years old; it was my first surgery ever. I had a bit of anxiety. Then I saw a girl in my history class wearing a shoulder brace. Just a few weeks before my own surgery, she told me all about her shoulder surgery. I learned a lot from her. It helped to hear it from another teen. As a Girl Scout project, I decided to record what I learned from her plus my own experience – and then found four more classmates with the same issue. The result is The Teen Athlete’s Guide to Shoulder Surgery. Regardless of the sport (softball, basketball, ice hockey, baseball, football), we all had a variation on the same labral tear theme. Of course I interviewed medical professionals as well, but their role was to clarify and support. This Guide is aimed at a target audience of teens ages 13 to 24.
You can find the Guide on the Nice Recovery website.
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