Arm Soreness Vs. Pain

Pain is part of being a pitcher. For better or worse, a pitcher's ability to withstand a fair amount of pain, mostly in his throwing arm, will determine at least some of his ability to progress through the ranks of high school, college and professional baseball. Literally, a pitcher must have a high tolerance for pain to succeed.

Everyone knows that throwing the baseball as much as a pitcher does in one of his starts is very hard on the arm. The over-hand motion is tough on the elbow, shoulder and all related tendons, ligaments and muscles. With every pitch, those muscles create tiny tears and "bleed." The tendons and ligaments are stretched from the bone and manipulated in ways that are not exactly how nature intended. All of these motions create varying degrees of discomfort and pain. To be successful, a pitcher must be able to differentiate between soreness, which can be "thrown through" and pain which indicates injury, which should halt any further throwing.

Soreness is the type of pain that generally results from the over use of the throwing arm and typically resides in the muscles of the arm. For example, after a long outing, the pitcher will find some soreness in the triceps, forearm, behind the elbow and in the back muscles. This type of pain is usually a dull, aching feeling that throbs after the pitch is released. Usually, this pain will subside after a few days of cardio and some light icing. Many times, even throwing itself can help facilitate blood flow to the sore areas and alleviate the pain. Even if the pain persists, it will usually subside with continued throwing (even with some pain) or the cessation of throwing to allow the muscles to heal. A pitcher with this type of pain is usually experiencing tendinitis. Many times, an increase in ibuprofen intake and the aforementioned icing and throwing will help this pain subside in one to six weeks.

On the contrary, the pain from an actual injury will be very acute and sharp. The pain will "shoot" through the injured location during the release of the pitch itself instead of after the pitch has been released. The epicenter of this pain is almost IN the joints. That is to say, the inside of the elbow and inside of the shoulder capsule will create the pain. This indicates an injury, not of the muscles, but of the ligaments, tendons and nerves. The tendons could possibly be torn, the nerve could be pitched, or any other part of the arm including the bone could be compromised. Instead of the inflammation associated with the dull pain of tendinitis, the actual structure of the arm will be altered. Examples of this injury would be the torn labrum (found in the shoulder) or the torn UCL (the tommy john ligament). The elbow could experience bone chips or bone spurs and the shoulder's rotator cuff itself could be torn. Recovery from these types of injuries almost always requires extensive physical therapy, rehab, and surgery. The time to full recovery can range anywhere from 6 weeks to a full year (for Tommy John labrum surgery).

As a pitcher, you must be able to take care of your arm when the pain is only soreness from throwing. This means doing your shoulder and elbow maintenance exercises and ensure that your delivery is as close to flawless as possible to prevent causing any unnecessary wear and tear.

This post isn't meant to scare you, but it is meant to keep you informed so that you can best take care of your body.

Until Next Time!!