Rotator Cuff Injuries are a Common Baseball Injury

Rotator Cuff Injuries are a Common Baseball Injury

Rotator Cuff Injuries are a Common Baseball Injury

Rotator cuff tears are a common baseball injury, especially for pitchers. Your rotator cuff keeps your arm in its socket. It’s made up of a group of four muscles that combine as a tendon to help rotate and move your arm. This is why pitchers often fall victim to this injury.

TWO TYPES OF TEARS:

  • Partial
  • Full-Thickness

A tear happens when one or more of your tendons tears and becomes either fully or partially detached from the upper arm bone, called the humerus. The injury usually starts with tendon frays and takes an expeditious movement, like a fastball pitch, to result in an actual tear. While supraspinatus tears are the most common, other parts of your rotator cuff may be involved.

The Ball Player’s Companion: Prevention of Rotator Cuff Tears

  • Use Proper Technique
  • Our therapists can teach you the proper shoulder and overall body mechanics.
  • Practice regularly to improve your technique and prevent injury.
  • Exercise All the Muscle Groups in Your Shoulder
  • It’s important to train not just any one rotator cuff muscle but also its antagonist (the muscle that performs the opposite motion).
  • Strengthening exercises that emphasize equal conditioning of both muscle groups will help prevent the humeral head from slipping out of the socket.
  • Exercising all muscle groups reduces the risk of rotator cuff tears in baseball players’ throwing arms.
  • Listen to your body.
  • If your shoulder is sore, weak, or fatigued, take some time to rest it. A few days of lost training is worth it if it prevents a severe shoulder injury.

CALL CPT TODAY AT 985-272-1017 TO SCHEDULE YOUR EVALUATION TO START HANDLING YOUR ROTATOR CUFF PAIN.

By Dr. Billy Beaudreau, PT, DPT, MTC, OCS, FAAOMPT