If you’re one of those parents who loves spending their summers on the bleachers watching your child play baseball, there’s a good chance that they’ll swing a bat thousands of times this season. This repetitive stress coupled with sometimes inefficient mechanics can increase their risk of a shoulder injury, and one of the more common injuries we see in baseball players who are injured during a swing is known as batter’s shoulder. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the causes and treatment options for batter’s shoulder.
Understanding Batter’s Shoulder
Batter’s shoulder is primarily considered an overuse injury, but there’s more to it than that. It’s not just about swinging too much, it often involves poor swinging mechanics that place additional load on the lead shoulder. That’s not to say that it only develops in players with poor swinging form, because anyone who has tried to hit decent pitching knows that a good pitcher can make you look foolish at a moment’s notice. A slider with late break or a changeup when you’re sitting fastball can have you trying to adjust your swing in the middle of your motion, and your perfect form is cast aside as your body tries to adjust within split seconds. This can lead to pronounced strain on the lead shoulder.
This is especially common when the batter reaches for a pitch that’s low and outside. When you’re adjusting to this type of pitch, you naturally need a wider arm angle in order to extend the bat towards a pitch further from your body. This puts more torque on the shoulder joint and can more easily overstress key tissues in the area. If this happens too often or too severely during a single swing, it can lead to a partial subluxation of the shoulder joint and a tear in the posterior portion of the labrum.
If you or your child suffers this injury, it will typically be pretty evident following the swing. There will be immediate discomfort in the lead shoulder during the follow through, and sometimes there’s even an audible pop or a popping sensation that occurs during the swing. Continuing to swing or applying more than moderate force on the shoulder is typically met with pain and discomfort.
Diagnosing And Treating Batter’s Shoulder
If you present to a shoulder specialist and explain that discomfort developed when swinging a bat, a golf club or a racket, your provider will likely hone in on the labrum or the rotator cuff as a source of injury. They’ll conduct a physical exam and may manipulate your shoulder in a few different ways to see how your shoulder responds to different movement and stress patterns. Since it’s most likely a soft tissue injury at play, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be the most common imaging technique ordered to get an inside look at the shoulder.
If a labrum tear and posterior instability is confirmed, your doctor will walk you through a standard course of treatment. For most patients, that begins with a healthy dose of conservative care. In most instances, that involves a combination of:
- Rest/Activity Modification
- Physical Therapy
- Over-the-counter pain medications and anti-inflammatories
- After clear progress, a gradual return to swing-based activities
Most athletes can make a full recovery in about 12 weeks, but it could take longer if your lead swing shoulder is the same as your throwing shoulder, as it will take longer to recondition the shoulder to the increased stress it faces during a game compared to someone who bats right handed and throws right handed (or vice versa for lefties).
If symptoms persist or you suffer a setback during rehabilitation or when returning to competition, surgery may be the next move. In these instances, an arthroscopic operation is performed to repair the posterior labrum and reinforce the tissue so that it’s capable of handling normal stress patterns once recovery has occurred. The majority of patients can return to the same level of performance just a few short months after surgery so long as they adhere to their surgeon’s post-op rehabilitation plan.
Contact a Shoulder Specialist
We help pitchers, batters and all ballplayers who are dealing with shoulder issues, so if you’re dealing with chronic or sudden shoulder pain, connect with Dr. Holloway and his team today. For more information, or to set up your first appointment, give our team a call today at (865) 410-7887.
