Sunday, November 15, 2009

Shoulder Injuries In The Throwing Athlete



I found this article in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, which was published in April 2009. This article provides a thorough overview and introduction to the types of shoulder injuries associated with throwing athletes. This is an interesting article that establishes the connection between throwing athletes and specific sports injuries. It discusses the kinematics of throwing and how that can cause injury over time.

The article states that these athletes are prone to shoulder injuries as a result of the high forces placed on the shoulder during the throwing motion. Specifically articular-sided partial rotator cuff tears and superior labral tears are common injuries with these athletes. Laxity, impingement, and glenohumeral internal rotation deficit are also mentioned.

Our group will focus on articles discussing biotechnological advances to treat rotator cuff tears in future blog posts. This article states that the majority of shoulder injuries should be treated initially with nonoperative methods like physical therapy and rehabilitation. However, it also discusses that operative treatments can be extremely successful for certain traumatic injuries. The importance placed on physical therapy may have something to do with the fact that one of the authors is a physical therapist.

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