How to brace a shoulder

This past December, I tore my labrum in two places. As I'm beginning to climb again, I find that it there is a little bit of discomfort and instability. For those of us with shoulder injuries, how do you brace your shoulder when you climb? What works, and what doesn't? 

*disclaimer* I have seen a doctor and am working with a physical therapist. I am seeking your input in addition to their recommendations. 

Get the surgery. There’s no good way.

I injured my shoulder two years ago. While it will never be the same I am stronger than ever. Shoulder injuries are for life. 

Learn how to do pull ups correctly. There is a right and wrong way to position your elbows and shoulders. There is also a sequence of events that take place during a correct pull up - how to start the motion all the way to ending it. 

For me the primary irratant is over the head pressing motions (military bench and handstands), or pulling from a fully extended arm with the palm behind the head a bit. If I do the pulling through the lat and back it feels better than using the shoulder muscle as the primary. 

Sleep on your back. Sucks for me because I am traditionally a side sleeper. This makes a difference in the long term, not necessarily short term gains.

There is no good way to brace the shoulder. PT gets all the muscles around the joint stronger, so the shoulder is more stable, for daily activities, but it doesn't do anything for those funky moves when you are hyper-extending and putting a lot of stress on the shoulder in a weird way.

I had done PT after i had a SLAP tear, and was able to climb almost normally... Except for those times when the shoulder would randomly go out on a random move. And because it was rare and random, I was guarding for it all the time, and holding back. I chose to go the surgery way in the end. No regrets.

After a followup, my injury has gotten worse, so I will be having surgery. Thanks for y'alls input. 

PT. Every day. Then after 6 months do regular shoulder strengthening and flexibility exercises. 

I think it's really hard to say as shoulder injuries are all so different and the surgeries to fix them are also very different in terms of what they do and how long it takes to heal/fragile the recover process is.  For me, I had a long history of chronic instability that would bench me for anywhere from a week to a couple of months over a 5ish year period.  After the worst event I finally started seeing a PT and learning how to take care of my shoulders while climbing.  At the same time, I booked a surgery, but had to wait 4-5 months so that I could work the summer season.  During the wait, my shoulder healed remarkably well and while I wasn't climbing my hardest grades ever, I was more or less back to where I'd been prior to the worst trauma.  It felt weird to get surgery on a joint that was functioning fairly well.

Now, a year and half out from surgery, my shoulder feels really good compared to how it was and I'm climbing harder than ever. That being said, my shoulder was getting better through PT and strengthening while I was continuing to push grades, so who's to say how it would be if I hadn't gone under the knife?  I was also fortunate to have a procedure where they attached bone to bone as opposed to trying to anchor soft tissue to bone.  I definitely have a simpleton's understanding of the process, but I think bones bind to each other much more easily than soft tissue grows to bone making for a much more fragile and difficult recovery if that's the procedure you're getting.  A friend who also has shoulder issues (and is an orthopedic surgeon) is trying pretty hard to avoid surgery because of that fact.

Long story short, I think that PT, strengthening, and learning good shoulder posture while climbing are the most important things you can do for your shoulders. To be clear, by PT I'm talking about working with a professional who can tell you what muscles you need to develop and what's overdeveloped; not some random set of exercises you've picked up through the internet and talking to other people with shoulder issues.  Surgery can help correct a chronic problem, but if you don't learn to take care of the joint in recovering from the surgery and continue to strengthen the joint as you climb post-op, you're going to end up right back where you started.

Also, there's this: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/experience-story?cid=esther-smith-shoulder-maintenance-for-climbers

I tore 25% of the labrum in both of my shoulders in separate non climbing incidents several years ago. I hadn't yet discovered climbing, but when I did I quickly found that several moves really exacerbated the pain and resulted in a mental block for trying dynamic shoulder intensive moves. I was reticent to go under the knife, but after many consultations with different sports medicine orthos I decided to do it. I had one shoulder fixed in January and the other one done in December of the same year. Best decision ever. 

The rehab and time off from climbing was tough, but both my shoulders now feel stronger than ever. I was back climbing hard six months post op. That being said, I still have times when I feel that little twinge of instability in one shoulder, and I've found that using Rock Tape or KT Tape to isolate and stabilize the area helps substantially. The tape is cheap and there are plenty of videos online that show optimal tape configurations for shoulder stability. I keep a roll of Rock Tape (personal preference) in my bag at all times, especially if I know I'm going to be working shoulder intensive problems close to my limit.

Hey, if it doesn't work for you then you're only out a couple bucks. No harm in trying.