Howard sidelined indefinitely
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ryan Howard has indeed suffered a setback in his recovery from Achilles surgery and will be sidelined indefinitely following a procedure to clean an infection from his original wound.
Howard sidelined indefinitely
Matt Gelb
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ryan Howard has indeed suffered a setback in his recovery from Achilles surgery and will be sidelined indefinitely following a procedure to clean an infection from his original wound.
Foot specialist Mark Myerson performed a "small procedure" Monday to remove the stitches from Howard's wound, Phillies head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan said. Howard is on antibiotics and should return to camp sometime Wednesday. Myerson is the surgeon who originally operated on Howard's ruptured left Achilles last October.
Sheridan is unaware of when Howard will return to his rehab program. When asked if the delay would be days or weeks, Sheridan said, "I truly don't know that answer."
While Myerson was forced to reopen Howard's wound, he did find the structure of the rebuilt Achilles tendon remained intact.
"That was our biggest concern going into this," Sheridan said. "That was one of the things during the procedure he confirmed; the Achilles tendon is intact and not compromised. That's great news."
But now, Howard must heal this new wound. Sheridan said the team will be cautious this time to avoid any further problems later.
And the area where the procedure was done is notoriously a difficult place for a wound to heal.
"It's common for the skin behind the Achilles to have trouble healing," Sheridan said. "I wouldn't say it's common for the infection to occur. I do know it's a tough area to heal. It doesn't have a very good blood supply."
Sheridan once again refuted the idea this was a setback to Howard's recovery, despite him being inactive since Saturday.
The Phillies had publicly target a return for their first baseman sometime in May. Sheridan said he never had a timetable.
"I don't prefer to use that word," Sheridan said. "I know that's the word everyone wants to use. We never established a particular timetable for him. Right now, it's one of those things that happens in the rehab process. We just have to move forward from it."
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Really no story here, anyone who thought, other than the media writers in this city,creating a story rather than reporting accuracies, Ryan Howard will be lucky if he plays in 70 games this year. Despite the amount of doctor care,ice, heat, stim, pool, girlfriend, teammates egging, this injury is BAD, REAL BAD!! Don't rush him, 25 million on the 60 day DL is not a bad days pay. He'll be back another day swinging and missing at junk and everyone can bash him then, meanwhile Ryan keep plugging the promos for Subway or whomever just in case,— PhillyPhilly
This is a blessing in disguise. I thought his activity lately tended to be rushing his rehab. If this makes him take it easy for a couple more weeks, then fine. ...and warbiscuit, no one's listening to you.— John621- Not a real big story, with the injury he had, things like this can (should) be expected, look for him in June, just sayin'...— DJ
- @warbiscuit-- Calm down my friend, you're going to give yourself ulsers. It's only the end of Feb.— phillyjim7
- Why did they print this? I live in CW and watched him take B/P the other day. and they just reported he will be back with the team today.— davegoll
- BTW...as a doctor, infections in surgical areas are common, however, not 4 months post surgical. The "go in an clean out" requires not only antibiotics, but a chance for the tissue that was infected to HEAL. Its the proper healing that will take at least 2 weeks or longer. Remember, the orginal procedure was performed almost 4 months ago and it did NOT heal properly. It is most important for the surrounding tissue to heal properly and THEN, slowly begin rehabbing once again. The good news is that the tendon is fully intact. It is a setback, but really, after last season's Chase Utley debacle, did anyone really expect Howard to be back before June 1st? Three months from today is not unrealistic if the area heals and he can begin physical activity again in 2 weeks. Being real is important. Remember, the Cardinals won the World Seriew WITHOUT Adam Wainwright last season. This team is a veteran team and knows how to win with or without Howard (remember, he has had 6 week stints where he was out of action before). Get the pitching in order and things will follow.— drhoffman
- Howard's surgery was performed in October; the story says Dr. Meyerson removed the sutures in a "small procedure" Monday. Not being a medical professional, I'm a little confused. Are we talking about the internal sutures - the ones used to repair the tendon itself - as opposed to the surface surgical incision, which should have healed and been unsutured ages ago?— LDV24
- Shut up Wilhelm Von Humboldt
your a f ing idiot and no one cares what you have to say— wearepsu00 - my concern has been about Howards size related to his injury; the stress is different than wth most others who have had this injury; ive been skeptical all along of him both making it back and being productive at all for the regular season...hope they can stay in contention and maybe he can provide a jolt down the stretch— jim715
- c'mon. Howard strikes out too much and isn't worthy a spot on the MLB roster!!! You'll see, the offense will start magically scoring 5+ runs a game without him.
/s— palmyra21 - I have been saying all along that Howard would be back sooner than later. Unfortunately, a wound infection behind the Achilles tendon can be a whole new ballgame, and Howard's return may indeed be delayed. The surgeon probably debrided Howard's wound and drained any fluid around the wound before starting antibiotics and ordering appropriate daily wound care. The problem is that the wound has to be allowed to completely heal before Howard can start getting ready for the 2012 season. If his wound is not healed and he starts playing, perspiration, stretching and the abrasion of wound dressings or even thin socks against the site of the wound can potentially reopen and reinfect the wound, leading to delayed wound healing. This can further lead to a vicious cycle of repeated wound complications. Theoretically, even if Howard played through the complications, the discomfort could adversely affect his performance. In healthy individuals who allow their wounds to completely heal, such a setback may not be very long. However, depending on the size and depth of the wound and response to treatment, such a setback can last weeks to months. Of course, all this is theoretical. Only Howard and the surgeon know if this is a minor problem that is being blown out of proportion by the media or a major problem that many will try to downplay. I was hoping to see Howard playing when I go to Clearwater at the end of March. After today's news, I'll be happy to see him playing when he fully recovers from this latest complication. The Phils need Howard, but Howard needs to be healthy to play. Fortunately, the Phils won't be hurt by the likes of Mayberry and Wigginton at first base.
- The other day Barkann had an expert on DNL and he said it wasn't good news that after 4 1/2 months he had an infection. He said it before today's news, obviously. No matter how you look at it, it was a setback before they had to reopen the wound to clean it up.— EL Zorro
- My prediction that Cole Hamels will sign a long-term deal with the Phillies before Ryan Howard is back in the everyday line-up is looking better. I'm thinking Howard is back after the All-Star break.— ijj
- Warbiscuit- are you some kind of imbecile?— Apollo Creed
- Yellow Journalism!!!— SilliBilli
