Dreaded Arm Injuries

​Every baseball players' worst nightmare is that dreaded arm pain in the elbow or shoulder. We all have gone through it at some point in our career. It may just be typical soreness early on in the season from an increased workload. But, sometimes that lingering pain just never goes away, and thats what is happening to more and more players nowadays. 

Every baseball players' worst nightmare is that dreaded arm pain in the elbow or shoulder. We all have gone through it at some point in our career. It may just be typical soreness early on in the season from an increased workload. But, sometimes that lingering pain just never goes away, and thats what is happening to more and more players nowadays. 

Arm injuries are occurring at an alarming rate. Now, kids in high school are commonly having Tommy-John surgery and labrum repair surgery.  There are a host of suspected causes. We can all agree that improper mechanics, unconditioned muscles, and overuse are major contributors to these arm injuries.

Having gone through a shoulder surgery myself I am all to familiar with this career ending injury. I experienced arm problems intermittently throughout high school. But, I thought it was all pretty standard, being a pitcher. Once in college the workload increased and soon came the arm troubles again. After receiving misleading information from a trainer they told me to push through any pain, which ended up being a torn labrum. 

This was the first time in my career which I could not throw the ball more than 60 feet without feeling excruciating pain. Could this injury have been from improper training, overuse, or fatigued muscles? Likely, it was a combination of all these factors. But unfortunately, it was too late to fix any of those. 

The importance of proper arm care was never emphasized as it is today. Many times coaches, trainers, and parents just aren't aware of how to properly care for athletes, especially those who are constantly throwing. Only you, the player, knows exactly how you feel. It is important to know the difference between soreness and an actual injury. If you ever feel like it is an injury its important to properly address it since your career may depend on it.