Icing in PRE-High School...Really????

 Though recent studies now say that icing doesn't really help the healing process, and can even be detrimental to the healing process my son still ices. He started when he was about 10. 15 minutes of ice after throwing followed by 15 minutes off followed by another 15 mins of ice. You need the on off process to allow blood flow to return to normal for a while. 

Joes87, do you feel this regiment has helped him?  Did he ice because he was hurting, or just because you thought it was the thing to do?  What kind of pitches was he throwing at age 10 that would have made you think to ice?

Mine was probably around 10 as well. He threw just FB and CU back then, but he was always on the field throwing. Everyone figured if you were sore, use ice and take an anti inflammatory. No big deal and no idea how it helped. He liked it, getting his arm wrapped...

No harmful effects. 

Ice masks and relieves the pain and will help with swelling with a bruise. However, it restricts blood flow and decreases the rate of healing. It certainly does make a throbbing arm feel better, but that's about it.

So it's "normal" for a 10 or 12 year old to have a throbbing arm due to throwing? 

Yes, that's the bigger question to me... why does this 12U team have "a few sore arms and injuries"? And is he asking because his son pitches and catches, or just catches? The old thinking was that ice brings blood to the area, and blood promotes healing of muscles. Also numbs the pain of muscle fatigue. Not a huge deal.

But if he's looking for ice to stave off elbow and shoulder injuries, he's looking at the wrong problem.

The poster seems to be looking for her/his 12 year old catcher.  My son has caught for 4 years and pitched for 3 years and has never once even hinted at arm pain.  I kind of think of him as being made of rubber, but his coach sits him prior to and after pitching, maybe that's the difference?

Ice is a normal part of being an athlete.  He has had some "rehab" and every time they ice at the end. 

When a player doesn't properly condition in the off season and then picks up a ball and throws 100% the first practice, sore arms are the result.  I can't tell you how many teams by me struggled with sore arms in April/May.  Our team never had an issue but the kids where well conditioned to throw. 

Icing restricts bloodflow.

Why would anyone, ever, want to restrict the bloodflow of a tendon? (Except of course in the case of an emergency situation)

I've iced my sore ankles before with great results. 

Also don't pro-athletes in football and basketball sit in ice tubs after a game?

http://www.caringmedical.com/s...do-not-recommend-it/

http://www.mobilitywod.com/201...re-wrong-sooo-wrong/

http://www.macleans.ca/society...-end-of-the-ice-age/

http://stoneathleticmedicine.c...n-is-not-the-answer/

http://drmirkin.com/fitness/wh...delays-recovery.html

What's funny about those "anti-ice" people is that most of them have something for sale. And they often cannot provide references supporting their situation; they just like to tell you that there aren't any sources supporting ice either.

Personally I believe it's nuts the way baseball purists have considered icing to be so crucial after pitching or just throwing in general. But I do utilize quite often for a lot of different injuries. We use our Game Ready units a ton at the high school I work at. 10-12 kids a day easily for this or that injury. Especially post-op situations the Game Ready units are life-savers. These provide both cold and compression. 

I think the OP was not so much about icing or heat to promote healing as much as the OP was appalled that any 11 year old could have used his body in such a way as to require therapy of any kind from use of their arm. I am with TRhit on this one. "Kids today do not throw enough"!

My sons would throw with each other on a daily basis, including long toss, a couple times a week. Their arms did get tired, and back then it was all about ice, no controversy back then. But the point is they threw and they had muscle pain, maybe tendon pain, who knows. They iced, rested then threw again. My son at 25 still has a strong arm that rarely aches.

He threw a lot every day or so from the time he was 7 or 8.

It is what it is, a ball player will use his arm and will experience discomfort, even at 11.

My son has iced (rarely) on and off over the years. I think the first time we iced him was 13U after he threw a lot of pitches in a semifinal game. Anymore, he prefers to rest it and ease back into throwing rather than ice. I asked one of THE premier college pitching coaches in the country this past summer about the need to ice etc and when/how often? He basically said, he doesn't think there is one thing that remedies every player. Mentioned how icing immediately chills the muscles/tendons/ligaments that are hot from use and that quick contraction can't be good long term. Also said, "I don't take aspirin if i don't have a headache." Not what i expected but it sort of helped me deal with my son's methodology of not really using it over the years. If it works for your son and relieves discomfort/adds to his confidence and performance, then go right ahead.

Yes, appalled that an 11 year old needs ice is pretty much how I feel.  If you are properly warmed up, and properly conditioning 10, 11, 12 year olds...they really are like rubber they have to be doing something their body just isn't ready for for them to hurt like that. 

The 10 year old that plays a different sport in fall and winter and picks up a baseball in February and tries to throw with all his might is doing something wrong, and the coach shouldn't allow full throws without a ramp up to that...maybe long tossing for one practice, followed by short throws....etc...not day one "Let's see if you remember how to pitch throw it hard!"...isn't the coach just begging for an injury and a sore arm?

There seems to be this theory out there that the more you throw, the sorer you get, the better you must be conditioning your arm....what ever happened to listening to your body so you don't hurt yourself?

You may enjoy this from Kyle Boddy (note he is referring to age 13+):

http://www.drivelinebaseball.c...aining-is-the-devil/

I read the article, it was informative about how kids don't throw enough...but it didn't mention kids feeling sore.  In fact it backed up both the assertion of floridafan that kids don't throw enough, and my assertion that the soreness is coming from lack of use and a pitcher should ramp up, or maintain the level of throwing, not try to go full out on day one of practice after 4 months.

I've heard all kinds of stories about pitchers over the years.  I hear of pitchers that never get sore and I, personally have a hard time believing that.  I'm sure they're not lying, but I have yet to personally meet a pitcher who doesn't get sore after a relatively long outing.

Keep in mind.  There is a difference between being sore and feeling pain.  My son has been pitching since he was 8.  I don't remember about being sore during the 8-11 years, but I know that he would get sore at 12+.  He still will get sore if he pushes it.  My son knows when he is just sore from throwing a lot and when he is feeling some kind of pain, or discomfort other than being sore.  

My son played rec league until he was 12.  Only played maybe 25-30 games a year between spring and fall.  However, he was ALWAYS throwing something.  Whether it was tennis balls at the garage door, superballs at the walls in the house, rocks into the lake, whiffle ball games, whatever.  Starting at 12 he played travel and if he was up on his pitches, he would get sore.  I'll still talk to him and if he goes over 85 or 90 pitches, he'll get sore.  Once in a while he ices, but has never really liked to do it much.  Fortunately (knock on wood), he hasn't had any major injuries (ie. surgery) and is still pitching at 21 years old.  

I just wanted to make the point that there is a BIG difference between getting sore after an outing and feeling pain after an outing.  I think sore is OK, pain is NOT.