Has anyone ever had to deal with frequent shoulder dislocations?

My shoulder sometimes comes out of the socket, then goes right back in. The result is instant soreness, followed by stiffness and soreness for the next week or so. My shoulder will pop out if i dive in football and land with my arms extended. It also happens when i throw a softball during a game. Its happened about 8 times in the last few years. I have physical therapy set up for friday, but i was wondering if anyone had to deal with this before, and what their result was? Does pt help? or do i need surgery to be able to throw again?

Like I said, I already went to the doctor, and im starting PT on friday....i just want to know who else had to deal with this, and what their outcome was.

What it sounds like you have is multi-directional instability (MDI) of the shoulder. In most cases physical therapy will help give you more stability to your shoulder but you MUST keep up with the exercises shown to you indefinitely after you are done with PT. If you are not shown exercises to keep up with by the end of your PT then ask the therapist. PT will NOT cure the instability in your shoulder, it will only show you how to take care of it. Most of the PT failures with the condition you have are people who fail to continue with the program. There is a small percentage of people whose shoulders are so unstable that surgery is needed.

You should go to the doctor!