Elevate Your Health Colorado Protect your swing this spring

5Spring sports like baseball, golf, and tennis require a lot of throwing, reaching, and follow-through – all of which can be hard on an athlete’s shoulder and elbow. For those anxious to break out of winter’s hibernation – please take note.  As a general rule, the longer you’ve been inactive, the closer attention you need to pay to warming up and resting when appropriate. 

“Some of the most common injuries we see this time of year include rotator cuff injuries/tears and tennis or golf elbow from overuse or skipping the warm-up,” says James MacDougall, MD, a board-certified sports medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente Colorado.

Common spring sports injuries
Shoulder and elbow injuries that can slow or stop your swing include:

• Rotator cuff tears occur when a portion of your rotator cuff (the muscles that stabilize the upper arm bone and socket of the shoulder joint) partially or fully tears from the bone. Tears often result from gradual wear-and-tear, as well as muscle overuse from repetitive overhead motions such as throwing a baseball, spiking a volleyball or painting the house. Subtle symptoms include arm pain or weakness when lowering, lifting or rotating the arm, and a popping sensation with movement.

• Tendonitis is the straining of a tendon that connects your muscle to your bone. When it affects the outer tendons of the elbow, it’s called tennis elbow; inner tendon pain is called golfer’s elbow. Tendonitis occurs from repetitive, forceful motions like swinging a tennis racket or golf club. Pain, burning sensations, or loss of strength with grip are some of the common symptoms of tendonitis.

Protect your arm (and your swing)
Training the muscles and joints in your shoulder, elbow, and wrist will help reduce the risk of injury to the arm. Dr. MacDougall recommends: 

• Warming up – “Don’t just jump back into things when the season starts,” Dr. MacDougall says. “Playing any sport for several hours per day and swinging hard from the get-go is when people start running into problems.” Lift your arms overhead or pump your arms during a light jog to engage the wrist, elbow, and shoulder and jump-start your muscles.

• Stretching – After warming up your arm muscles, slowly stretch your deltoid, bicep, latissimus dorsi, and the extensor and flexor muscles of the forearm to improve range of motion and reduce stiffness. “Ten repetitions of stretches held for 10 seconds each is a good goal,” Dr. MacDougall says.

• Strengthening – Improve arm strength and stabilize the shoulder and elbow joint by performing simple strengthening exercises.
  • Shoulder – Strengthen small muscles that surround the rotator cuff by lifting lighter weights and isolating these muscles three to four times per week with one day off in between sessions. Dr. MacDougall gives one precaution. “Don’t over train the larger muscles surrounding the rotator cuff, such as the deltoid, latissimus dorsi, and trapezius,” he says. “These muscles can overpower smaller muscles, making it difficult to know when the shoulder is fatigued and exposing it to injury.” 
  • Elbow – “Simple exercises like squeezing a flexible ball and doing wrist curls with the palm facing up and then down (reverse curl) will strengthen the forearm that protects the inside and outside of the elbow,” Dr. MacDougall says.
• Improving range of motion – Shoulder shrugs, side-to-side arm stretches, and raising your arms overhead several times will increase your arm flexibility, strength and range of motion.

• Resting – “Each body part and joint needs rest from the activity to prevent overuse,” Dr. MacDougall says. If you’re playing through seasons (football to basketball to baseball) or play on multiple teams, rest every other day or for a few weeks when possible. 

If you have a strained elbow or shoulder, conservative, at-home treatments should be the first step in healing it. Dr. MacDougall recommends using the Rest-Ice-Compression-Elevation method for a faster recovery. “If you have severe pain or stiffness or don’t see improvement, see your doctor,” he says.

Find more tips to keep your arm in top shape this spring at kp.org.