A baseball pitcher throwing ball after ball, a gymnast supporting her entire body weight on her arms, and a football player absorbing the shock of an impact, all have something in common. Their upper bodies are taking a beating. With many sports, including baseball, gymnastics, football, volleyball, tennis, and swimming, we push our shoulders to their physical limits (and sometimes beyond).
The shoulders are extremely mobile. Actually, they can have more movement than anywhere else in the body. But with all this mobility, they can easily become unstable. This leads to injuries, usually involving damage to the connective tissues in the shoulder, such as the labrum, ligaments, and tendons.
What are common shoulder injuries?
- SLAP tears
- Rotator cuff tears
- Dislocations/subluxations
Symptoms of these injuries can include pain with movement, decreased range of motion with lifting or reaching overhead, less shoulder power, and an aching shoulder.
Top 10 Tips to Avoid Shoulder Injuries
If you do get a sport’s injury, then come see the sports medicine specialists in Knoxville, Tennessee, or Athens, Tennessee, at the ORTHOKnox orthopaedic clinics. Meet our team of physician here and physical therapists here. We hope to see you for a preseason assessment or for injury prevention help, but we are here for you if you injure your shoulder. To increase your odds of preventing a shoulder injury, check out our top injury prevention tips below.
- Balance your upper body workouts, biasing the upper back muscles slightly over the chest muscles
- Get a preseason assessment. Your doctor can check your flexibility, stability, strength, control, and sport-specific techniques
- Progress slowly with your weights or fitness program
- Use good technique and form when practicing and in a game
- Maintain good posture off the field
- Strengthen your rotator cuff muscles specifically and also surrounding shoulder muscles
- Stretch to increase your flexibility
- Rest often and use ice if you experience discomfort
- Be aware of shoulder injury symptoms
- Seek medical treatment as soon as you experience any of the symptoms listed above or you could cause injury (or your injury could worsen)
Shoulder Surgeon in Athens and Knoxville, TN
We hope our injury prevention tips can help you prevent a shoulder injury. But while we plan to cheer you on while you play through this season and the next, we are here to help you recover if you do sustain an injury.
With its on-site physical therapists, board-certified surgeon, sports medicine physician, and Urgent Orthopaedic Care that is available without an appointment, ORTHOKnox has got you covered. For more information about how ORTHOKnox can treat your sports injury, call (865) 251-3030, or fill out our easy-to-use online appointment request form. We look forward to hearing from you!