As mentioned above, there are many ways in which a physical therapist can support a baseball player. Here are some of the services that we offer to players to support them in their careers as a player:

Injury Rehabilitation:

Physical therapists are trained extensively in injury rehabilitation. Like all athletes, baseball players are at risk for experiencing injuries that can impact their ability to continue playing. These injuries can occur during practice, during games and even in the training room. Some examples of injuries that physical therapists treat in baseball players are as follows:

• Ligament sprains
• Muscle strains
• Muscle contusions
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Shoulder labral tears
• Ulnar Collateral Ligament injuries (and post-Tommy John Surgery)
• Shoulder instability
• Knee and ankle ligament injuries
• Wrist sprains or tendonitis
• Fractures

While it may be tempting to self-treat or ignore injuries and to jump back into practices and competitive play as soon as possible, failure to fully rehabilitate an injury can predispose you to recurrent or more severe injuries. There are several benefits related to injury and post-surgical rehabilitation that working with a physical therapist can provide you including assurance that you are fully recovered from the injury and that the injured tissues are prepared to take on the unique forces and stresses associated with baseball.

If you have taken time off or decreased your training in response to signs of pain or injury, your symptoms may have improved due to a lower training load but it does not guarantee that symptoms won’t recur once you increase your training load again. With proper rehabilitation we can help minimize this risk. This leads us to another way that working with a physical therapist can benefit a baseball player….

Identify and address the underlying cause of an injury

While full recovery and return to play is the ultimate goal when it comes to injury rehabilitation, a physical therapist has much more to offer. We are interested in identifying the factors that may have predisposed you to the injury in the first place so that we can make a plan to address them. This helps decrease your risk for future injury and often has the side-benefit of improving overall competitive performance. Here are some factors that we look for when assessing a player:

• Muscle strength, power and endurance
• Flexibility and mobility in muscles and joints
• Sleep, nutrition and recovery time
• Training schedule
• History of prior injury
• The physical demands of a player’s position on the team

While some injuries are unavoidable, there may be times when internal and external factors play a role. Identifying these factors allows us to address them with a good physical therapy program or give advice on helpful modifications or adjustments to your training.

If you decide to work with a physical therapist to help correct your issues related to playing baseball, your entire treatment plan could consist of around 8-20+ different physical therapy sessions that will each last 60-90 minutes. Once you complete your customized baseball player physical therapy treatment plan, you will be able to continue to do the prescribed stretches and exercises utilized during your PT sessions yet in the comfort of your own home.

WHAT PHYSICAL THERAPY TECHNIQUES ARE USED TO ADDRESS DISC HERNIATION?

The goal of physical therapy treatment for disc herniation is to relieve the pressure and irritation on the nerve roots to provide symptoms improvement and to address any underlying or contributing factors that may predispose you to recurrence or progression of this problem. As mentioned above, my team and I will create an individualized treatment plan based on your unique presentation and the findings of our exam but here are some treatments commonly used to manage a disc herniation:

Manual therapy: Manual therapy is a hands-on manipulative type of physical therapy that your physical therapist can use to address joint hypomobility and soft tissue impairments and to provide some pain relief. Joint mobilizations, soft tissue mobilization, and myofascial release are some examples of manual therapy techniques.

Postural re-education and body mechanics training: learning to move well can be an important step to reducing symptoms of a disc herniation and to prevent their recurrence. By learning to adjust your posture and move in an efficient and safe way you can perform more activities with less pain and less irritation on the spinal nerves.

Strength and flexibility training: Graded exercises to improve muscle strength and overall flexibility will be prescribed. Having adequate strength and flexibility around joints, muscles and other tissues in the back, hips and legs can help reduce symptoms of pain, help you feel more capable of moving and performing daily tasks and create more resiliency in your spine in the future.

Education: education is an important part of the physical therapy program for a herniated disc. Education may include things like avoiding bed rest and using ice to manage pain and swelling during the acute phase, instruction on proper lifting biomechanics and how to modify your workspace or work duties to help reduce the likelihood of reinjury.

If you are dealing with a disc herniation and are ready to find a long-lasting solution to your pain call us today to learn more about our services and schedule an evaluation