Mine had similar issues arise. Hard to get rid of unless you take time off. Her cause of muscle imbalance in the upper back and bad posture. What helped aleve her pain was PT twice a week, naproxen 2 pills x 2 a day, days off of pitching (inning limit), ice not heat to help with inflammation. She massaged it daily with a massage gun/lacrosse ball on the knot to release it even it is temporary. But rest and targeting muscle balance on chest and shoulder/back seemed to help her. Then it was all about maintaining. Each kid is different as she said heat flared it up.
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Agree on the doctor front for sure as that can't be replaced but once that is sorted it may make sense to consider more regular adjustments with a chiropractor along with a well rounded strength, flexibility and stretching program. Finding the right balance and person to help you along with this isn't easy and may take some trial and error to find that right fight but also need the kid to buy in and be responsible for sticking with it. This has been a routine part of my daughters process for the past 4 years and has worked out well (some may be part of the mental part of things but there have been a lot of other benefits physically for sure)
Good luck and hope she is ok - have seen a lot of arm issues lately on the softball field (including labrums) - there is a lot to arm care and many coaches don't pay any attention to it sadly and that is at all levels and ages of the game
Good luck and hope she is ok - have seen a lot of arm issues lately on the softball field (including labrums) - there is a lot to arm care and many coaches don't pay any attention to it sadly and that is at all levels and ages of the game
It sounds like I get pain and knots in the same exact place. I blew out my should in my early 30's. It happens for me as soon as I fall off my home "PT routine". As has been suggested. Get to a doc, find a PT to put together a good "maintenance routine". Take a little time off, Advil / Aleve until the pain goes away. Make sure she keeps up with her PT routine. Of course, I'd have a pitching coach take a good long look at her mechanics as well.
TL;DR: Get a good team and approach from different perspectives.
DD had an debilitating elbow issue that kept her out for over six months. A combination of Sports Medicine Specialist, Physical Therapist, and Massage Therapist eventually got her right. We were lucky in that they were all willing to listen to each other and continued to work to figure out the issue after initial assessments and treatment were totally ineffective. SMS saw no damage on MRI & Xray, so referred to PT who worked on strengthening the areas that were leading to poor ergonomics when using her computer during lock-down, and MT was ultimately the one who suggested that the muscle tightness he was working on was causing a nerve issue which led back to SMS reevaluating MRI/X-ray and seeing that the nerve canal through the elbow was constricted. As soon as he recommended heat and motion instead of ice & rest things cleared up in a couple of weeks.
DD had an debilitating elbow issue that kept her out for over six months. A combination of Sports Medicine Specialist, Physical Therapist, and Massage Therapist eventually got her right. We were lucky in that they were all willing to listen to each other and continued to work to figure out the issue after initial assessments and treatment were totally ineffective. SMS saw no damage on MRI & Xray, so referred to PT who worked on strengthening the areas that were leading to poor ergonomics when using her computer during lock-down, and MT was ultimately the one who suggested that the muscle tightness he was working on was causing a nerve issue which led back to SMS reevaluating MRI/X-ray and seeing that the nerve canal through the elbow was constricted. As soon as he recommended heat and motion instead of ice & rest things cleared up in a couple of weeks.
I would also suggest posting a video of her pitching to see if there are any mechanical issues going on so you can prevent future recurrences. Great to address the pain now, but if there is an issue you'll be right back in the same place if you don't get it fixed.
If you haven't already, if you're prescribed PT, do it. It may seem simple and pointless, but it DOES work. I've seen too many people with injuries or chronic issues that start PT and bail after a few sessions because they think it's stupid. There's a method to it, and all three times I've gone for different reasons, it's helped tremendously.
My DD had a similar issue at the beginning of high school ball. It started when we moved to the swing back instead of delivering out of the glove. Curve irritated it although it was caused by a timing issue with swing back. So we stayed away from that pitch for a month. and treated her with Aleve and iced her after pitching. Jbands before and after each outing and on off days. We also iced on off days after stretching both sides with the jbands. Lasted about a month and then it cleared up no issues with full range of motion. Massage gun every night as well before bed. Like PapaBear said heat flared her up more so we stayed away from that. I also wonder if pitching in the cold early in the season contributed to DD's issue. Hope she gets to feeling better.
cold weather caused her issues and once it was there it stayed until she figured out what worked. But very similar protocol to yours.
