How to Get Back to the Field After Thrower's Shoulder

Has your tennis, baseball, softball, or volleyball passion injured your throwing or serving shoulder? Perhaps you’ve had to sit out part of the season. Every time you try to lift your arm, it hurts. 

Our board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, Dr. Jonathan Shults with Coastal Empire Orthopedics, helps athletes and nonathletes alike recover from a variety of shoulder injuries that can disable your arm, including rotator cuff tears, biceps tendinitis, shoulder bursitis, shoulder instability, impingement, and labral tears. If you’re an athlete and your injury springs from overuse, these conditions are known as “thrower’s shoulder.” 

Of course, you want to return to the game as soon as possible, but what must you do to get there? You must practice patience if you’re hoping for a quick return to play. Thrower’s shoulder injuries require it. The following are steps to recovery when you have a thrower’s shoulder injury. 

Rest 

Resting your arm is essential to your recovery. You’ll need to take a break from your sport. Your shoulder tissue is inflamed. Icing the area helps reduce pain and inflammation. 

Dr. Shults can administer a cortisone injection if you’re in severe pain. Prescription pain relievers can help temporarily. 

Physical therapy

Physical therapy is the gold standard of treatment for thrower’s shoulder injuries after initial healing. Whether or not you’ve had surgery for your injury, physical therapy helps you regain lost range of motion and rebuild your arm strength. 

Your therapist starts physical therapy slowly, using gentle massage and showing you how to perform gentle stretches. You progress to exercises that build strength and help your body control your shoulder joint as you throw or serve a tennis ball.  

Return to play program 

Your return to play is criterion-based because Dr. Shults is a sports medicine specialist. Your physical therapist works with you to ensure you meet key milestones during rehabilitation before returning to your sport. 

Once you’ve progressed in physical therapy, you can begin a return-to-throw program. Dr. Shults and your therapist explain that you can gradually begin to throw a ball overhead; the watchword is “gradually.” You begin by throwing a short distance at a low speed for a short period. 

Dr. Shults explains the importance of a warm-up before throwing or serving a ball. Take a hot shower or use a hot pack before throwing. This helps loosen your muscles and ready them for action. Your therapist explains which stretching exercises to perform after you’ve applied heat to your shoulder. 

Your physical therapist introduces plyometric exercises that help distribute force better when you throw and increase your strength. They also help you quickly activate your shoulder muscles and absorb the impact of rapid motion. 

Dr. Shults and your therapist explain that you must have rest days between throwing events. They recommend a schedule for your physical activity. 

In addition, when you start to throw, you should have no pain or stiffness during or after your activity. If you do, you must take the day off and see if you can throw the following day without pain. 

You progress to performing drills that include your sport's normal throwing or overhead motions. You’ll gradually increase distance, force, and number of throws or overhead movements.  

If you have a painful shoulder injury, call Coastal Empire Orthopedics or book an appointment through our online portal today.