FRIDAY, July 10 (HealthDay News) -- Testing a baseball pitcher's shoulder strength before the season starts may predict the player's chance of an arm injury later, a new report says.
Such knowledge could help the pitcher avert the injury by changing conditioning strategy, the study's author said.
A five-year study of 144 professional baseball pitchers linked injuries to a player's strength in three shoulder movements: prone external rotation, seated external rotation and supraspinatus strength. The strength ratio of prone external rotation to prone internal rotation also appeared to predict future arm injuries.
"The shoulder and elbow are subjected to significant stresses during the pitching motion, placing them at risk for injury. By demonstrating an association between shoulder weakness and throwing-related injuries, we hope that future injuries might be prevented by focusing strength-training programs on those areas that are weakest," study author Dr. Ian Byram, an orthopedic surgery resident at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., said in a news release.
The study is to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine held in Keystone, Colo.
More information
The American Sports Medicine Institute has more about pitching-related injuries.
SOURCE: American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, news release, July 10, 2009
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
| Previous: Health Tip: Easing Earache Pain | Next: Shoulder Surgery Helps Athletes Get Back in the Game |
|
Reader comments on this article are listed below. Review our comments policy. |
Submit your opinion:
 |
||
|
|
Are you a Doctor, Pharmacist, PA or a Nurse?Join the Doctors Lounge online medical community
|
|
