ONDAMED Sports Injury Cases — Rotator Cuff Injury

Carlos was diagnosed with a Rotator Cuff tear while playing for the Yankees in 2005.

Carlos Mirabal, a 37 year-old retired Yankee pitcher received 16 ONDAMED sessions, twice weekly beginning June 28, 2010. 

Surgery was performed to repair the tear in June 2006. During his rehabilitation, Carlos was the relief pitching for a local team, The Bears. The pain never subsided in his shoulder, and he had chronic knee pain from pitching.

Carlos was never able to return as a starting pitcher. He had been signed by the Houston Astros in 2008, and was used by the league as a relief pitcher for a short time. However, the pain became chronic and he was never able to pitch at his previous speed of 95 miles per hour.

There came a point in 2008 that his strength and endurance along with the chronic pain, made him unable to play in the major leagues any longer and he retired in September 2008. During 2009, Carlos developed his own training center for young athletes in New Jersey. It was in the spring of 2010 that he was introduced to our Wellness Center and was educated about ONDAMED. Since then, Carlos has been out of pain and he is training to resume his pitching career.

ONDAMED was started on June 28, 2010 at the Cowan Wellness Center in Ridgewood, N.J.

Carlos was treated twice a week following the standard protocol and all four modules. The programs for muscle and nerve pain (82 and 84) were also applied. After six sessions with the ONDAMED, Carlos reported having better range of motion with his shoulder during training, including bench-pressing more and lifting more weight. He realized that he had no pain in his shoulder or discomfort following workouts and was able to slowly increase his training capabilities.

Standard protocol was continued twice a week and Carlos was still pain free in both the knee and shoulder. In August he was asked by a weekend A-team to relief pitch for them. He decided he would test how his shoulder and knee would respond to actually pitching a game. He played on Sunday, August 29, 2010 and pitched a “no hitter”, with no pain or discomfort following the game. He pitched two weeks later with the same results.

During this time Carlos increased his training to prepare to play for a major league team again. He has been asked to pitch in Arizona and to pitch winter ball in Puerto Rico, which he is considering. Since August, he has pitched an additional four games without any discomfort or pain.

Carlos will continue his bi-weekly treatments for the next two months. He is a huge advocate for ONDAMED.  (Maryanne Cowan, L.C.S.W., PH.D.)