Keep Your Shoulders and Elbows Healthy This Season

Arm injuries have reached an epidemic level in youth baseball and softball.  According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons at least 20 percent of players ages 8-12 y.o. and 45 percent of 13-14 y.o. experience arm pain in any given season.

At Complete Game Physical Therapy we see a huge increase in youth baseball and softball related arm injuries every spring.  Many of these injuries are avoidable.  We have worked with thousands of youth baseball and softball players, and here I will share with you some tips we have found to be most helpful to avoid arm injuries.

Slowly build up throwing- One of the most common things we hear when a throwing athlete comes into the clinic with arm pain is that they overdid it early in the season.  Even in Major League Baseball, there are more injuries in spring training than any other time in the season.  Start off your throwing short distance lightly tossing and gradually increase both distance and how hard you’re throwing.

Posture- Posture is one of the first things we look at in the PT clinic.  Having good posture is very important, especially for the shoulder and elbow, because it puts everything in proper alignment.  Correcting slouched posture, especially in teenagers, will reduce stress on the elbow and shoulder.

Don’t throw through pain-  When we evaluate an athlete with shoulder and elbow pain something we often hear is that they “thought the pain would just go away.”  There often is some soreness as your body gets used to throwing again after a long lay off.  It should never be sharp, severe or gradually worsening pain.  If these things are going on it is better to get it evaluated by a medical professional as soon as possible and not try to just work through it.

At Complete Game we work with youth athletes and active individuals of all ages.  If you have any questions about your youth athlete, just reach out and we can help.  We are always available to talk on the phone or through email for free consultations.  It may just be something like one of the tips above that can help keep your athlete on the field and injury free this spring.  If you do need to come in for PT we have two convenient locations in Lowell and Tewksbury and offer afternoon and evening hours to help fit your busy schedule.  We are in network with all major insurances and our friendly admin staff will help you understand what your specific physical therapy insurance benefits are.

We are available by phone at 978-710-7204 or email Greg at gcrossman@completegamept.com with any questions.

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