Elbow Issues Advice

First, get it checked out by a professional right away.  Hopefully, you'll rule out any major issues.  A lot of times, if there are no structural issues, it can be corrected with physical therapy. 

Until then, rest and ice.  Your coach should want to know what is wrong and get it fixed.  It is time to be smart, not a hero.  Good luck.

I hope you're going to an orthopedic and not a general practioner. The GP will tell you to take Advil and rest for six weeks. An ortho can diagnose the problem. Then you address your coach with what the orthopedic tells you to do.

Dont do anything until you see the doctor!!!!!!!!!!

If your coach is likely to react to the news of arm pain in this way, the problem goes far beyond your method of communication.

I agree with all of the posters above. Don't do anything until the doctor diagnoses you.

It is an orthopedic.  And I won't have an appointment for about a week.  What should I do in that time span?

By don't do anything you mean pitch or throw? 

If it hurts to throw, then you shouldn't throw. It won't hurt less by throwing more. If your coach doesn't understand that, then he shouldn't be coaching.

JH is exactly right rest it, that means no throwing until you see the Dr

Now is the time to rest.  If nothing is "broken" it is likely the area is irritated and inflamed.  Throwing will only keep it inflamed.  It will not get better until it is fixed.  Either by surgery (hopefully not) or physical therapy.  Nothing you can do until you get to the doctor. 

For what it's worth, my kid had an "elbow issue."  I was scared chitless.  Turns out, it was not the "elbow" at all.  It was caused by the wrist and releasing the ball.  After a few weeks of therapy -- throwers 10, ultrasound, ice, etc. -- he was good to go.  Good luck.     

Obviously as has been said, see a doctor.

Next, don't throw or do anything that causes pain.  The area is inflamed and you don't want to do anything to increase inflammation.  As was explained to me by a friend that is a physical therapist who mainly deals with youth athletes - inflammation is toxic to the connective tissues. If you have tendonitis, rather than structural damage to your elbow, it can usually be handled with rest and physical therapy.  The thing is though, that it can take a long time to heal - and you can't shortcut it.

You need to communicate the situation with your coach ASAP.  Regardless if he "understands" or not. It's not a matter of how you think the coach is going to react.  It's a matter of you need to live with that elbow for the rest of your life.

I'm taking it you are either a 2017 or 2016 player....that being the case, you certainly have more time on your side than a 2015 or 2014 trying to get committed somewhere.  Either way, you would not want to throw until you have a diagnosis of what is wrong.

Elbow injuries are tricky, and even many ortho Dr.s miss on this one...best if you have access to one that specializes in elbows, and even throwing injuries.  Now here is the likely scenario as it relates to today's insurance, etc....typically the ortho will take an x-ray to rule out skeletal issues, which is less likely what you have going on here, but they still will rule that out.  They will also see if at 15 years of age, your growth plates have closed.  If the x-ray turns out well, then the likely protocal will be a period of rest (no throwing) followed by a detailed throwing regiment geared towards working up the amount of throws, distance, intensity, etc. (could be the short interval throwing program by Dr. James Andrews - you can research online).

If you can not get through the rest period, and the throwing program without pain, then you start over again, and normally only then will they perform the MRI.  Depending on your insurance / ability to pay for an MRI, you could take a different approach, and tell the Dr. your elbow "REALLY" hurts, and ask for the MRI now.  Then you can have the peace of mind of knowing exactly what soft tissue damage you have, if any.....that would be my recommendation if you are experiencing serious pain when you throw, or if you elbow hurts to the touch even when not throwing, especially if the pain is very localized in the typical UCL area....

my .02 cents

Hello Young_Baller,

I’m not sure of your specific age.  In middle school my son had a growth-plate issue in his elbow.  My basic understanding is that while the body is growing, growth-plates are the weakest point in the chain.   There are definitely better explanations out there, but the growth-plate literally allows the body to grow; it allows your bones to get longer while still enabling functioning joints.  As the body matures – finishes growing – the growth plate hardens and the ligament attachment becomes fixed.  From that point forward, the ligament is the weakest point in the chain.  For my son, the diagnosis was made by a Dr.  I have also heard same thing as mentioned earlier:  The elbow is a tricky piece of machinery and even experienced Dr.’s have trouble with specific diagnosis.  In the end, resting the arm solved the issue for my son.  Prior to getting back on the field he went through Physical Therapy and a breakdown of his throwing mechanics.  The body is an incredible machine and it’s built to heal itself, but it must rest and it needs time.  My son was out of baseball for about 8 months, missing all of his 7^th grade spring, summer and 8^th grade fall-ball seasons.  I can tell you he just made his High School baseball team, he did not fall behind his peers and he now throws without any discomfort. 

I’d be happy to pass along more details you want.  Please stop throwing until you have an understanding of what’s going on from a Dr.  Don’t even throw paper in the trash, no throwing motion.  Any ‘punishment’ meted out by the Coach for you taking care of your body should be internalized as fuel to succeed in the future.  You won’t be any good to your team or to yourself if you’re functioning less than 100%.

This is right on. "Playing through it" usually results in something worse. The only change I would make is DON'T ice. Unless you have an allergy, use Ibuprofin or another anti-inflammatory. We all grew up with ice, but the prevailing opinion now is that always was and is a mistake. While it provides pain relief and helps with swelling, it also impedes blood flow, thereby vastly slowing down the healing process. Not to step on any toes.

Not to start an argument (or go off on a tangent) but I heard the exact opposite regarding ice.  That it stimulates blood flow as the area warms up and the blood flow is what heals the area.  When my kid was working thru is elbow issue, his trainer had him do various arm/wrist exercises, followed up with massage, heat via some ultrasonic thing, and finally ice.  It seemed to work, but who the heck really knows. 

I heard only ice if pain is present. When my son did physical therapy on shoulder a few yrs back the therapist iced it after 30 min workout.

Best advice here is to see Ortho dr. Not family dr. Go straight to specialist as they may need to follow in HS as need arises. Find the one that the colleges in your are uses. 

good luck, keep us updated.

Excellent advice....my son had growth plate issues as a 14 yr old (8th grade), a diagnosis of a slightly sprained UCL as a sophomore in HS that likely should have required TJ, and finally had TJ surgery after his Frosh year of college.  Whatever you do, see a doctor that specializes in elbow/shoulder injuries & get this taken care of immediately.

We had the growth plate issue as well...about 13 years old.  Dr said no pitching, no catching, unless once in a while and lots of rest.  He played the whole season but mainly 1st or 2nd, some catching.  6 months later, growth plates grew together and he's now on the mound with no elbow issues.

Roothog66- I'm not sure I follow the logic behind being anti-icing and pro-anti inflammatories. Ice is an anti-inflammatory...

In response to the ice vs no ice for what it is worth while my son was going through his UCL strain issues the doctors recommended ice for the inflammation in the beginning as one would expect. But when he shut down and switched to rehab and no throwing, they wanted heat to increase blood flow, said ice then would be counterproductive.

Unless there is a diagnosis, all of this advice is meaningless.

The only good advice given here is to not do anything until you see a doctor, which was your original inquiry, about dealing with your coach.

I am really not surprised, you have come here asking all types of questions, as to what programs suggested, and as far as workouts. I admire you for trying so hard to get better at your position, but do understand that if you really do not know what you are doing, you can hurt yourself.

JMO

TPM just said it best.

Take this for what it's worth. Son had elbow pain some days and no pain other days. At the time he was in Middle School. I carried him to Dr. Andrews and after an MRI it was discovered that he had a very small piece of chipped cartilage that was floating in his elbow. He had his elbow scoped and the chip removed and has had no further issues...now to the point. After four weeks of doing nothing he started Rehab at Andrews Institute and did this over a six week period and after every session (twice a week) they put his arm in a sleeve attached to what I am sure was an extremely expensive machine that essentially iced his arm. He was on the machine for I believe 20-25 minutes and he was actually in pain for several minutes each time they started on this icing process due to the extreme cold. So 2 1/2 months after having it scoped, they were still using "ice"! He never experienced any pain or swelling after being scoped or after physical therapy yet they "iced" after every session and told him to use ice if he ever experienced pain or discomfort after throwing. He has been back to Andrews late last year with a pulled muscle in his back on his non-throwing shoulder. The doctor did a little acupuncture on the area (problem was due to posture) and sent him home and told him to stretch and ice the area! I guess we are going to continue to ice until someone with better credentials comes along and says to stop!  

I agree with you. Son has had 3 surgeries and I have never seen any heat applied during rehabs.

Ice, ice baby!

TPM I am new to this site. I have a 2016 middle infielder and I have some questions that I would like to ask you at sometime if you don't mind! I lurk here a lot and I respect your opinion. Not sure to PM you!  

I started the dialog....look up at top of your page to reply.