Massachusetts General Hospital

Young Pitchers and Injuries: Throwing Overboard

12/Apr/2010

Young Pitchers and Injuries: Throwing Overboard

Every year as winter snows recede and spring settles in, baseball fans of all ages welcome the return of America’s favorite past time. While many adults look forward to seeing their favorite players in action, younger athletes lace up their cleats, oil their gloves, and prepare for another season on the diamond. While baseball and softball remain two of the safest youth sports, it’s important to understand that every sport carries risk of injury, and these are no different.

One particular area of concern to parents and their young ball players is shoulder and arm injuries to pitchers. What often starts as a slight soreness can, if not treated properly, devolve into a more acute and painful injury. Though physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Sports Medicine Service see a good number of trauma injuries like strains and sprains, more often young players seek consultation for conditions relating to overuse.

“In most sports you’re going to have bumps, bruises, and sprains,” says Thomas Gill IV, MD, chief of the Sports Medicine Service at Mass General. “But injuries due to overuse, especially in baseball and softball pitchers, can be prevented if players and parents are vigilant and practice good prevention techniques, because as with most injuries, prevention is the best treatment.”

Overuse injuries typically injure the growth plate in the maturing athlete and can occur at the shoulder, elbow and other parts of the body. Injuries to the growth plate can affect future growth of that extremity, or lead to problems preventing further participation in the sport.

“It’s important for pitchers to avoid overthrowing, or overtraining,” says Eric Berkson, MD, of the Sports Medicine Service. “Allowing time for appropriate rest between sessions, seasons, and leagues will go a long way toward keeping pitchers healthy in the long term.”

Pitch counts, Berkson says, are also important guidelines to be aware of and adhered to.

“Little League baseball has developed a pitch count policy to help players avoid overuse, we believe these guidelines serve as the best model for young pitchers,” he adds. “We also generally discourage players from pitching for more than one team in any given season.”

To explore these injuries, Berkson, Gill, and the Sports Medicine team have been researching factors leading to injury in youth baseball. At the soon to be opened Massachusetts General Hospital Sports Performance Center in Foxborough at Patriot Place, physicians use new world-class technologies to assess pitching biomechanics and create three-dimensional models of subjects to identify factors leading to future injury. These tools will also help to improve performance and prevent injuries by examining throwing mechanics and measuring stresses across the joints.

Additionally, Mass General’s Sports Medicine and Sports Medicine Physical Therapy have developed a specific injury prevention program for youth baseball injuries. The exercises included have been carefully selected to strengthen the areas of the shoulder and elbow that are most vulnerable during pitching, and have been developed based on several electromyographic studies that have determined the specific efficacy of each exercise.

For players who develop pitching injuries, the Massachusetts General Hospital Sports Medicine physicians offer a wide range of services. From diagnoses, to treatment and physical therapy, athletes and parents can consult with world leaders in sports medicine and rehabilitation. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (617) 726-2500 or go online.