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Although baseball is a slower-paced activity, the sport involves repetitive movements like throwing and swinging. As a result, players can experience overuse and related injuries, starting at the youth level. If you’re on a team or are the parent of a baseball player, here’s what you should know about potential injuries.
Types of Baseball Injuries
Although baseball is a warm-weather sport, practice during the season is an everyday effort. Going through the same motions can result in the following types of injuries.
Rotator Cuff Tears
The rotator cuff provides stability to the shoulder. This group of muscles and tendons surrounding the joint can experience significant strain from throwing a baseball. Over time, the rotator cuff can gradually suffer small tears that worsen, especially with little-to-no warmup and poor form.
At a later stage, players may find they cannot fully rotate the shoulder or familiar motions suddenly cause pain. If ignored, a complete tear could end a season or career much earlier than expected.
Pitchers and hitters who perform repetitive motions are at increased risk for rotator cuff injuries. While physical therapy is recommended, surgery may also be needed for a full recovery. Even with appropriate treatment, baseball players may find this injury permanently alters range of motion.
Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) Damage
The UCL helps stabilize the elbow. The repetitive motion of throwing can place greater strain on this ligament and lead to a tear, known as Tommy John syndrome. A player may feel a pop in the elbow, sharp pain or a pins-and-needles sensation as this injury occurs. Throwing speed may also be affected due to a lack of control. Similar to a rotator cuff tear, UCL injuries may require surgery and physical therapy to fully repair.
Labral Tears
A labrum tear is an overuse injury affecting the cartilage surrounding the shoulder joint socket. Pitching causes stress to this area and the cartilage can wear away or tear. Labrum tears may be small or go beyond the joint.
When this injury occurs, players may feel weakness or a locking sensation in the shoulder and throwing speed may be affected. Symptoms tend to appear gradually and surgery may be needed. However, recovery is often based on other shoulder injuries the player has already experienced.
Elbow Injuries
Baseball players may develop medial epicondylitis, also known as “pitcher’s elbow” or lateral epicondylitis, often called “tennis elbow”. Pitcher’s elbow affects tendons in the wrist attached to the palm and “tennis elbow” results from repetitive motion and over-extension.
Both conditions result in pain from the wrist to the elbow and may be accompanied by weakness. Treatments to control inflammation will be recommended before surgery.
Hand and Wrist Injuries
Beyond repetitive motion, baseball involves catching hard, quickly-traveling balls over and over. This can result in gradual wear from the force applied or sudden injury like a fracture, dislocation or sprain. Aside from pain, players may find they cannot throw, catch or hit as consistently. Initially, players are told to rest and immobilize the area, but surgery may be necessary later on.
Knee Injuries
It may appear that baseball primarily involves the upper body but the sport also includes running and quick directional changes. A sharp pivoting motion or sliding into a base can result in an MCL or ACL sprain or tear. Players may feel a popping or snapping sensation or sudden onset of pain, causing instability around the knee.
Aside from ACL and MCL injuries, the knees are also susceptible to meniscus tears, which affect the cartilage between the femur and tibia. Over-extending or twisting the knee can affect this area.
Similar to ACL and MCL injuries, players may initially feel a popping sensation and later experience swelling, inflammation and instability. The knee may also feel locked up. Surgery and rehabilitation are recommended for professional baseball players to recover from all these knee injuries.
Ankle Sprains
As a player runs, the ankle might roll or twist beyond its normal range of motion. More common for outfielders, stretching or tearing of the ligaments around the joint may be accompanied by pain, swelling, instability and tenderness. Players may also feel their range of motion has suddenly been reduced. For more severe sprains, a player might not be able to stand on that foot.
Concussions & Head Injuries
Two factors increase a baseball player’s risk for concussions and other head trauma: Flying balls and colliding with someone else. Yet not every head injury is initially evident. A player may have a concussion if they cannot stay balanced, feel dizzy, confused or disoriented, or have memory or concentration issues. These symptoms may also be accompanied by nausea or disrupted sleep.
For Youth Sports
Overuse injuries are becoming more common among Little League and youth players, especially with off-season training. Fatigue is often a precursor, especially when pitch count recommendations are ignored.
Along with the conditions listed above, injuries affecting youth players include:
- Humerus Overuse Injury: Impacts the upper arm near the shoulder, causing the growth plate to widen and resulting in pain and inflammation. If ignored, this injury can lead to a stress fracture.
- Medial Elbow Overuse Injury: Causes the growth plate closest to the elbow to prematurely widen. Along with pain, players may experience decreased range of motion.
Treating Baseball Injuries
At every level of play, injuries related to the repetitive nature of baseball can be prevented by:
- Fully warming up before practices and games.
- Participating in conditioning programs during the off-season.
- Taking time during the year to rest.
- Not playing through pain. If a player experiences an injury, the area should be stabilized, elevated and iced. The player may also need to take time off from practice to fully recover.
Physical rehabilitation focuses on stretching and strengthening the injured area, improving form while throwing and increasing a player’s range of motion.
Are you recovering from a rotator cuff, elbow, wrist or hand or other shoulder injury related to baseball? Work with the therapists at Integrated Rehab to improve your strength and form. To learn more about our services, contact us today.