Shoulder injuries are one of the most common injuries in wrestling. Popular moves like head-levers, armbars and hammerlocks place immense pressure on the shoulder joint. It’s not uncommon for wrestlers to experience rotator cuff or ligament tears as a result.
Many people are unaware of the fact that the majority of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction—or Tommy John—surgeries are for teenage athletes. While little leaguers are not quite teenagers, now is the time to take preventative action, as it’s the prime time for future injuries to fester.
Injuries to the elbow can occur due to a variety of situations, but the most common cause in winter sports is direct impact to the elbow joint. Direct impact can cause dislocation, fracture the bones in the elbow, or damage tendons and ligaments.
Tennis elbow, aka lateral epicondylitis, affects the tendon that runs along the outside of the elbow and is caused by playing racquet sports or working in a variety of professions that involve repetitive arm movements. Symptoms include pain or burning along the outside of the elbow, as well as problems with gripping items. This particular ailment tends to improve with rest, physical therapy, or the use of a brace.
With all of those activities – especially when started up again after a few months of cold weather inactivity – injuries can easily occur. One type of injury that you don’t hear very much about, though, is “overuse injuries”. So, we thought now would be a GREAT time to discuss some of the most common overuse injuries that we see so that YOU know what to look out for…or, better yet, avoid all together!
Compartments are groups of muscles, blood vessels, and nerves in your arms and legs. There is a tough membrane, known as a fascia, that covers these tissues – the fascia doesn’t stretch or expand easily as its main purpose is to hold the tissues in place. For instance, the area between the knee and ankle has four major muscle compartments. Compartment syndrome is most often seen in the calf. However, it can also occur in the other compartments of the lower extremity, as well as in the feet, buttocks, arms, and hands.
The good news here is that, while the injury may result in some initial pain, there are maneuvers that a physician can perform to easily reset the elbow, thereby restoring movement and alleviating pain.
In children, most elbow injuries occur during activities such as sports or play. Contact sports such as football, soccer, and wrestling carry a higher rate of injury, as do high-speed sports like hockey, skiing, snowboarding, and skateboarding. Older adults have a higher risk for injury and fractures due to a loss of muscle mass and bone strength (osteoporosis). A greater propensity for issues with vision and balance also increases the risk of injury.
Tennis elbow, aka lateral epicondylitis, affects the tendon that runs along the outside of the elbow and is caused by playing racquet sports or working in a variety of professions that involve repetitive arm movements. Symptoms include pain or burning along the outside of the elbow, as well as problems with gripping items. This particular ailment tends to improve with rest, physical therapy, or the use of a brace.
The elbow joint is where the two bones in the forearm – that being the radius (which is on the thumb side of the arm) and the ulna (on the pinky side) – meet up with the humerus, which is the long bone of the upper arm. The lower end of the humerus flares out into two rounded protrusions, which are called “epicondyles”, and this is where muscles attach to bone. The upper end of the ulna also has two protrusions – the olecranon (which is what creates the “point” of your elbow) and the coronoid process.
