funny bone

[Dusty]

I was wondering if any other pitchers have gone through this and know what causes it. My 12yo dd occasionally gets a tingly sension in her elbow after throwing a pitch as though she tweaked her funny bone. She says it doesn't hurt and once the momentary tingling sensation goes away she's able to pitch again without feeling it again. There is also no rhyme or reason to it, she can pitch 2 hours and never feel it or it can happen in a 20 minute session.

We'll ask our pediatrician about it at her next visit but I thought it might be common enough that someone here is familiar with it. She is currently going through a rapid growth spurt which could have something to do with it.

 

[TimothyJ]

Sounds like her ulnar nerve is either getting compressed, or possibly flapping around over the "funny" bone when she pitches.

May not be a big deal, but personally I wouldn't wait until the next scheduled visit before mentioning it to her doc.. They may want her to see a specialist before it develops into bigger damage to the nerve. Try a Google search for "Cubital Tunnel Syndrome".

Also, please make sure she knows that she has to be VERY forthcoming in telling you if she feels any chest pain or headaches when her arm gets numb

 

[Dusty]

Thanks TimothyJ,

I just took her to a local sports doc (against her will since she thought she was fine) and it turned out to be well worth the $20 copay. The doc checked her out and said that the vast majority of baseball and softball players he examines with elbow problems have the root of their problems in flexibility loss in their shoulder/rotator cuff area. He said that dd's issues were very minor and could not only be corrected, but her performance would improve by incorporating a couple of stretching exercises he demonstrated.

The one I thought might be of interest to those who browse this forum was one that he called a "sleeper stretch" which he described as a internal rotation stretching exercise (first time I herd anyone use that term outside of this forum). Basically, one lies down on their side with their throwing shoulder down and extends their throwing arm outward away from their body. Then extend the forearm directly upwards in a L shape at the elbow and slowly try to stretch the hand down to the ground towards the lower body, using the non-throwing hand to help if needed. It sounds pretty easy but it's fairly difficult to make the throwing hand touch the ground and if done correctly you'll feel the back part of your shoulder stretching out in the process.

I don't know if I explained it adequately (I'm rushing to pick up dd from practice) but I thought several people here might want to give this a try.