Upper body injuries are extremely common in sports, such as those that involve overhead movements like tennis, basketball, and volleyball.
A sports medicine doctor is a type of orthopedic physician who specializes in diagnosing, treating, and preventing musculoskeletal injuries affecting athletes and anyone who regularly engages in physical activity. A sports medicine doctor is essentially your go-to expert if you sustain any type of upper-body injury during exercise or sports activity: they can administer appropriate intervention to ensure you recover safely and successfully.
Below are a few common upper-body injuries. If you experience their symptoms, don’t attempt to play through them— see a sports medicine doctor near you right away. Ignoring them can put you at risk of delayed healing or complications.
Mallet Finger (Drop Finger or Baseball Finger)
Mallet finger is injury to the tendon that straightens the end joint of your finger. This type of upper-body injury usually occurs when a ball jams or strikes the tip of the finger.
Symptoms include loss of movement, swelling, pain, and inability to straighten the end of your finger or thumb.
Splinting is typically used to treat mallet finger but, in some cases, surgery may be necessary.
Wrist Fracture
A wrist fracture is a break or a crack in one of the bones in your wrist. You’re highly susceptible to wrist fractures if you do snowboarding, skating, or any other type of sport in which falling is highly possible.
Symptoms of a wrist fracture can include severe pain, deformity, swelling, bruising, tenderness and difficulty moving the wrist.
Treatments may include immobilization, physical therapy, or surgery to realign the bones.
Rotator Cuff Tear
A rotator cuff tear occurs when the group of muscles and tendons that holds your shoulder in place (rotator cuff) gets stretched beyond its capacity. Rotator cuff tears are common among people whose sports involve repetitive overhead activities, such as baseball, playing tennis, swimming.
If you tore your rotator cuff, you will likely feel a dull but deep ache in your shoulder, restricted arm movement, crepitus or popping sensation, and muscle weakness.
Treatment for rotator cuff tears varies. In many cases, it can be treated with nonsurgical methods, but surgery may be necessary if conservative treatment fails to provide adequate relief.
Sports Medicine Doctors in Lutherville, Maryland
If you’re in search of a reliable sports medicine physician in Lutherville, Bel Air, Clarksville, Eldersburg, Pasadena, or Westminster in Maryland, visit us at Greater Chesapeake Hand to Shoulder. Our board-certified sports medicine doctors are highly skilled in both the nonsurgical and surgical treatment of the full range of sports injuries, so you can rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality of comprehensive care and achieve the best possible outcome.
To see one of our sports medicine doctors, call us today at (410) 296-6232, or you can simply request an appointment right here on our website.
