Help !! How rehabiltate "catchers thumb"??

Hi,

First off, feel very proud that
your son is playing well at the
12U. Secondly, feel very content
that your 12U coach recognized
your son's injury, and after evaluation,
made the decision to use another catcher. However, your observations in these matters are appropriate since
their is risk of continued damage and increased recovery times since the coach continues to allow your son to play, and play at 1b.

As far as the injury, your son's
will get better, and in most cases,
the earliest of recovery times possible will be to reduce the risk of exposing
the left thumb to the forces from
catching.

One way to do this is technique.

Another way to do this is via support
from tape.

From a technique point of view, young right handed catchers typically expose
their thumb with LH pitchers for
pitches away from a RH hitter,
where the catcher receives the ball across his body. At the rec level,
where the pitchers may not throw the ball as hard (or with much movement),
the worst of poor catching technique will typically not reveal the how prone the catcher is to injury in this area.

In simple terms, I teach the catcher to catch the ball NOT with his catcher's mitt thumb down, but with his mitt thumb up.

This reduces the risk of breaking his thumb. This is the reason why the catcher's mitt is just that, a mitt, versus an infielder's / OF / P glove
e.g. Thumb Protection

From an orthopeadic point of view, the thumb joint can be supported with athletic tape to keep from being as exposed than without. A proper taping
technique as discussed with any
qualified trainer may provide the information you seek. I have also
used Scolls pads as a mean to protect
the thumb bone bruise, which also provide some relief.

Good Luck

taping.