From baseball and tennis players to swimmers and gymnasts, many young athletes put heavy strain on their shoulders.
Kids today are playing harder and training longer—especially in a city with year-round good weather—and are unfortunately increasing their risk for rotator cuff injuries.
“Growing kids’ arm lengths are constantly changing and that means that the muscles need to be constantly adapting, and if you don’t keep up, then you put the rotator cuff at risk to get injured,” says Eric Edmonds, MD, a pediatric and adolescent orthopedic sports medicine specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego and a professor of orthopedics at UC San Diego.
Knowing what warning signs to watch out for and focusing on proper technique can help protect young athletes’ shoulders from injury.
Rotator Cuff Injuries Explained
The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. It helps control motion in the shoulder by allowing full-circle rotation while also stabilizing the joint. In athletes who frequently throw overhead, it can become inflamed (tendonitis) from overuse and is at risk of tearing. Complete tears are relatively rare. Partial tears and tendonitis are more common. Kids who focus on only one sport or play year-round are at the highest risk. “The reason that the tendon gets partially torn with overhead motion is because in the cocking phase of throwing or hitting—in tennis or volleyball, for example—the extreme of rotating the arm backwards pulls on the attachment of the tendon on the arm bone,” says Eric Edmonds.
Symptoms of a rotator cuff injury include:
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Pain and restricted motion at the shoulder joint
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Pain on the top of the shoulder with overhead arm motion
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Pain when lying on the shoulder
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Shoulder weakness
Rotator cuff injuries are most common in youth sports that involve repeated overhead arm motions.
Sports Report: The most common culprits are:
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Water polo
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Swimming
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Tennis
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Volleyball
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Gymnastics
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Baseball and softball
Treatment for Rotator Cuff Tears
Roughly 70% of kids with partial rotator cuff tears and other symptoms improve with physical therapy. That’s always the first line of treatment when sports medicine physicians find a rotator cuff tear, says Eric Edmonds. Those who don’t improve with rehabilitation can opt for surgery.
Tips to Prevent Injury
Tone up off the field: Strengthen the upper body—there are 17 different muscles that attach to the shoulder blade—and core muscles to support healthy movement.
Focus on technique: Most of the power needed to throw or hit something overhead should come from the legs and torso. Arm movement is just a follow through.
Warm up and cool down: Proper stretching and shoulder warmups can help prevent strain.