Common Shoulder Injuries for Baseball Players

Common Shoulder Injuries for Baseball Players

HOI Sports Medicine Surgeon Dr. Taylor Dunphy shares about Common Shoulder Injuries for Baseball Players from labral tears to rotator cuff injuries:

Q: What is the most important advice you can give throwing athletes?

A: It’s important for throwing athletes to have mobility and strength. Without those two things, shoulder problems occur.

Q: What are some of the main injuries you see with baseball players? How do they occur?

A: The main issues I see are around the labrum. The labrum is the most mobile joint in the body. With throwing athletes, there is a lot of strain on the tissues around the labrum due to the force.

Labrum tears can occur when you’re bringing your arm up to throw. Your arm is coming up in a cocking position, and when you do that, you’re putting a lot of pressure on the posterior part of the shoulder. The cocking motion creates a lot of force and torque on the labrum and biceps, which can lead to a SLAP tear, on the front or the back of the labrum. A lot of overheard (throwing) athletes can notice they have a dead arm or lose velocity, that is from a labrum tear.

Rotator cuff injuries can also occur from that same cocking position, when athletes feel a pinch in that same area. These are usually small tears but can progress to big tears over time/

It’s important that athletes have good mechanics and good strength to prevent these shoulder injuries.