Bicep Pain?

[Madsofball]

My DD has been experiencing some lower bicep pain for the last week. It is ONLY painful when throwing overhand. She says she experiences zero pain when pitching. She had a busy TB summer (lots of games), her TB team is practicing 2X weekly as is her MS team, so she is definitely playing quite a bit right now. I am a little perplexed by the pain only being during overhand throwing, although I admittedly am not an anatomy guru. I am curious to know if anyone else has any experience with this?

We are icing after practices, and trying to make sure she really stretches well prior to practice, but I am having a little bit of a difficult time getting her to take these things seriously. I have not taken her to the doctor, but am starting to wonder if that is the proper next step? Any thoughts or past experiences would be quite welcomed.

 

[sluggers]

Your DD should go see a doctor. Please, please, do *NOT* let her continue to practice until her arm heals. There is a possibility of a bicep tendon tear if she doesn't let her arm heal. Those are extremely serious.

My DD had exactly the same problem.

(1) My DD took a few weeks off to let the arm heal.
(2) She then started doing exercises to strengthen the shoulder muscles. (The bicep attaches to the shoulder. So, you want to strengthen the entire arm around the shoulder.) My DD did lots and lots of band exercises. Here is a link to some: Shoulder Band Exercises
(3) She worked on the fundamentals of overhand throwing. (Amy, where are you?)

Here is a nice article about bicep tendonitis: Cleveland Clinic Bicep Injuries

I am having a little bit of a difficult time getting her to take these things seriously.

You are the parent, she is the child. She is doing something that could seriously hurt her. You tell her that she isn't going to practice for two weeks, and that she can either tell the coaches or you will, her choice.

As a word of caution: Make sure she understands "why". Explain, explain, and explain some more. Have the doctor explain it to her.

 

[smddad]

I also had bicepital tendon issues. I was tough (read stupid) and ignored it. Ended up with months of light duty and PT with band exercises.

See a doctor.

 

[halskinner]

Question here. If she flexes her bicep muscle, does it kind of twist a little bit, top of the bicep twists to the inside, bottom to the outside?

 

[Madsofball]

Sluggers,

Thank you for the input... Sounds like we will be taking a break. I'm wondering if this is simply over use, or is indicative of mechanics issue?

 

[Madsofball]

I will have to ask her to flex her bicep for me Hal. I couldn't tell you off hand.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I was in Flagstaff "trying" to get our home ready to put on the market. But, I am back, now.

The story that you tell is one of the reasons that in IL. we could not do MS ball and TB at the same time. I want to echo what Sluggers said, in that we would expect an overuse injury. So, I am sitting here feeling where my biceps brachia attaches, by a tendon, to the lower bone of the arm. And I start to think tendonitis. She can ice that complete elbow in a bowl of ice water and it wouldn't further hurt anything.

As far as stretching - can you tell me what both teams do? Example, exercise while moving, or standing and stretching the arm across the front of the body, while pulling on it with the other hand.

It is probably overuse, while using poor mechanics. I spend a lot of pitching practice getting my girls to throw correctly overhand. I study overhand throws a lot. I use the Jaeger Sports site and wassermanstrength.com. I use the J bands (jaeger site) and "shoulder poles," daily.

Do you have any video of both pitching and overhand throw? Good luck. I want to stress how much an injury to the arm DOES hurt. It is the most pain, I have ever been in.

 

[sluggers]

I'm wondering if this is simply over use, or is indicative of mechanics issue?

Well, it indicates that she is throwing too much with bad mechanics.

I would bet $10 that she has poor overhand throwing mechanics. Pitchers don't work much on overhand throwing. Nobody really cares since they only have to throw 20 feet a couple of times during a game.

But, now she is practicing four times a week, and doing the drills everyone on the team is doing. She is now making longer throws (which she has rarely practiced), and she is messing up her arm.

Amy is the guru about overhand throwing, and I would really encourage you to use Amy as a resource.

 

[halskinner]

Maybe I just didnt see it. But, has anyone asked if she pitches with Hello Elbow?

 

[Madsofball]

Amy,

I don't have any video of her overhand throwing at the moment. I would offer to take some video of overhand throwing but it sounds like this isn't a good time I posted a video of her pitching a week or two ago. I think it is on the 3rd page of this board right now.

As for stretching... both teams start with a light jog and then move on to high knees, lunges, sprints etc. They then do some static stretching. They typically do big/small arm circles, pull arm across body etc.

I can tell it is painful for her...she complained about it this morning when lifting her glass of milk. I think out time might be better spent getting her to a doctor to check it out this evening than "resting" at practice.

Thanks again for the reply