MDs say AC’s
shoulder O.K.

Anthony Carter's injury
could recur, but isn't
career-threatening

By Dave Reardon
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Injured athletes often feel alone.

No matter what they say, there is a sense of detachment as they sit and watch their teams go on without them.

There also is a certain amount of fear -- fear of if and when the athlete will be able to come back and play as well as before.

And when the player is the most talented and visible athlete in the state, a player who has a chance to take his team to unprecedented heights, there also is a legion of fans that worry.

Anthony "AC" Carter sat in street clothes with his left arm in a sling watching his University of Hawaii teammates win without him Sunday.

The concern throughout the Special Events Arena was palpable. Although the Rainbows pulled away in the second half to win, many eyes kept coming back to Carter on the bench, and the cheers were nowhere near as loud as they would have been if he was healthy.

The win was a win. But many UH followers would probably trade the victory for a healthy AC.

Source: Jayson Goo, University of Hawaii -- Illustration by Bryant Fukutomi, Star-Bulletin

But Carter and UH team doctors and trainers say fans need not worry about the senior All-America candidate from Atlanta. He returned to practice Wednesday and is expected to play tomorrow night against Long Island University.

His injury, a subluxation of the left shoulder, is a recurrence of an injury first suffered in October. It is serious, but not as bad as it might seem, they say.

To the layman, it might appear that Carter is being rushed back. But team medical personnel stressed that many players come back quickly from subluxations, especially recurring ones.

"I'm ready to play," Carter said last night. "I feel good about playing (Saturday). The doctor says the more it goes out the faster I'll come back, but I just want to go out and keep playing."

Team orthopedist Darryl Kan said 17 Rainbow football players -- most notably Shane Oliveira and Gary Ellison -- have had similar injuries over the past four years, and many were able to come back and play without immediate surgery. Ditto for volleyball player Curt Vaughan.

Carter's prognosis is especially good, because he is a quick healer and a hard worker in the weight room (without surgery, strengthening the shoulder muscles is the best way to treat the injury).

"There are some people who wouldn't be able to handle something like this. But AC's a special athlete and person," team physician Andy Nichols said. "He's a real team player and a model patient."

A shoulder subluxation means the upper arm bone pops out of the shoulder socket because of ligament damage, but then pops back in by itself, as opposed to a dislocated shoulder, which must physically be put back into the socket.

The ligaments, which normally hold the bone in the socket, are damaged by the injury and made lax, so they can't hold the bone in the socket without surgical repair. At this point, the bone is held in by only the shoulder muscles.

"Clearly, shoulder exercise and surgery are the most important long-term courses of treatment," Nichols said. "When the injury occurs, we can give him anti-inflammatory medicine, ice and prescribe physical

therapy."

But the injury might recur, both doctors said.

"What's happening to him is very typical when a young person dislocates or subluxates their shoulder," Kan said. "There is a very high recurrence rate, greater than 60 percent. When AC initially dislocated the shoulder, we discussed options. One was surgery, but that would've taken him out for the season. The other option is to rehabilitate the muscles around the shoulder girdle.

"Even with doing that, I told AC and coach (Riley) Wallace there was a very high chance of recurrence. Saturday was a manifestation of that," Kan added. "But we're approaching it just like we said we would. He'll miss about four or five days. There's a possibility it can happen again. If it happens too many times, we'll sit down and discuss options again."

Kan also said that the more subluxations recur, the quicker the player can return to play, to a point. If there are too many, permanent ligament damage could occur.

Carter is an NBA prospect. Kan said there is little chance that playing without surgery will endanger his pro chances.

"Chris Webber (of the Washington Wizards) had the same thing. He played a season-and-a-half and then had the surgery," Kan said. "What we're doing is standard treatment."

Carter will probably have surgery to repair the damaged ligaments at the end of the season. Recovery time is normally four months, which would give him just enough time to make it to an NBA preseason camp.

Trainer Jayson Goo said the injury won't make Carter more vulnerable to opponents' extra-aggressive play.

"I'm not going to change the way I play," Carter said. "I try to keep it out of my head and play like I normally play. There's going to be some things I can't do with my left arm, but I'm going to keep playing. I just won't try to do the things I know I can't do. It doesn't scare me."

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Star-Bulletin reporter Cindy Luis contributed to this report.

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1997-98 Rainbow Men’s Basketball Schedule

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