Baseball Injuries and Chiropractic

We’ve all heard the saying “no pain, no gain,” but does it really have to be that way? It’s never wise to ignore injury symptoms or to put chiropractic treatment on the back burner, especially in sports.

In baseball, the ability to run, pitch, and swing the bat at peak performance levels is an imperative part of staying in the game. Putting off treatment could end a career.

In order to live a happy and healthy life that involves a long baseball career, it is important to recognize some of the common causes of baseball injuries, how they occur, how to prevent them, and the ways in which chiropractic treatment can help.

Recognizing Common Baseball Injuries and Their Causes

Although it’s not uncommon to feel a bit sore after a hard practice or training regimen, there are some aches and pains that are beyond the norm. Being educated on some of the most common baseball injuries and their symptoms will enable an injured player to tell when the pain should be attended to by an experienced chiropractor. These are a few injuries that may potentially sideline a baseball player during the course of their years on the field:

• Shoulder Tendinitis – Rotator cuff or bicep tendons can become inflamed, causing excessive pain or tenderness in your shoulder, and ultimately, render a baseball player unable to hold their arm in certain positions. This is common in all baseball players, especially pitchers, who repeatedly move their arms over their heads during the throwing motion.
• Torn Rotator Cuff – If the tendons and muscles that support, stabilize, and allow movement in the arm become compromised, extreme pain results in the shoulder and further causes deep aching, overall weakness, and a significant decrease in range of motion. Symptoms will often be most noticable and painful in the morning or at night, and even though the pain may subside at points during the day, it should never be ignored. Chiropractic treatment should begin immediately upon the onset of such indicators as the continued use of an arm for pitching or batting could eventually lead to arthritis.
• Runner’s Knee – Biomechanical or muscular issues can lead to a feeling that your knee is popping, cracking, or giving out and can also cause pain toward the back of the knee. This can be caused by an extreme training program and/or the surface that the athlete is training on. All of these factors will be evaluated in the meetings and consults with your chiropractor, as they are often the least assuming but most likely culprits of sustained injury.
• Stress Fracture – Extreme or unusual repeated stress can lead to a painful incomplete fracture in any area of heavily repetitive usage. These are often caused by very challenging training regimes and can occur in shins and feet. Stress fractures are most commonly sustained in shins (tibia), hands and feet.
• Muscle Spasms – The repeated use of the same muscle groups (as is common in baseball) can lead to muscle spasms (often referred to as  ”knots”) in an athlete’s back which can cause extreme distress and discomfort. Chiropractic evaluation and treatment could help prevent injury and ultimately, poor performance on the field, largely through improvements to the biomechanics of a player and their form.
• Herniated Disc – When a spinal disc bulges or ruptures from its proper place, it can press on nearby nerves and lead to extreme pain. The symptoms of a herniated disk could be sudden or gradual and may include the inability to straighten one’s back without severe pain, numbness, tingling, weakness in one or both arms, or pain that radiates to the legs. Herniated discs are often attributed to the repeated straining of the back, or sudden strain on the back through lifting or twisting.

How Chiropractic Treatment Can Relieve Common Baseball Injuries

Having surgery for injuries sustained playing baseball is expensive and can put you out of the game for a lot longer than most players are willing to accept. Why let the condition become so aggravated that the only option is surgery? Chiropractic consultation, often times, is the best way to circumvent an injury and the pain associated. The goal being to resolve the issue causing the problem before it gets to an unmanageable state. Allowing Dr. Ehlers to get you back to your wellness state will keep you from exacerbating the problem and get you back to top performance more quickly than surgery.

At Oasis Sports Medicine, Dr. Ehlers can assess and implement several types of therapeutic treatment to work on restoring movement to your shoulder and arm. There are numerous modalities that can be provided, ranging from muscle stimulation, kinesiotaping and ultrasound, all aimed at improving the player’s movement, strength, posture and balance.

Repetitive motion injuries, like the ones baseball players sustain, are often best relieved through chiropractic treatment. Improving the current condition and alignment of the athlete and making lasting biomechanical changes are two of the primary purposes of Dr. Ehlers. If pain symptoms are caught early, they can be managed and reduced in a short period of time.

Chiropractors are specialists in resolving back problems like muscle spasms, poor posture, and misalignments. Utilization of joint and soft tissue manipulation, adjustments for subluxations, kinesiotaping and physiotherapy are all fantastic options provided by Dr. Ehlers for baseball players with injuries.

Ultimately, baseball players should never ignore painful or persistent injuries. Chiropractic treatment can have a player healed and playing again in no time.