INERTIA: A Therapist's Thoughts

INERTIA - Archive

6/4/2012

Hitting the Road

Alright, I admit it. I was a little skeptical, like many other folks were, when I heard that our favorite Brewer catcher was going on the DL with a broken hand from a falling suitcase. Jonathon Lucroy told us all that he injured his hand when his wife knocked the suitcase off the bed onto his hand while he was on the floor searching for a sock.

His injury, a broken fifth metacarpal bone, is known commonly as a "boxer's fracture." The reason for the name is the most often cause of injury is punching something hard causing a fracture at the knuckle of the pinky finger. The last person I treated with this injury was a police officer who was injured while wrestling a culprit to the ground.

However, I have known others to get this type of injury in freak conditions. Most notably me. Several years ago, I thought it was necessary to dive for a ball in a recreational kickball game, and I ended up with a boxer's fracture. The doctor's first question to me was "Who did you punch?" Goes to show why there was skepticism with Lucroy's injury.

Remember, injuries happen in all different ways, and I'm sure Lucroy would rather have been injured diving for a ball or getting hit by a pitch if he had to suffer an injury. I have been in this business for many years and have heard all types of stories about the cause of injury. So let's cut him, and his wife, some slack. I'm sure he'll hear about it the rest of the year from the road team fans. If all goes well, he should be back out there with the team soon.

Posted 10:17 AM

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Time to get the upper extremities involved in the "Exercises I Love" series. We treat a lot of shoulder injuries in the Sports Medicine Center, so I want to make sure to include some of the exercises that I use a lot for these injuries also.

Prone Scapular Strengthening

Some call these “Y,” “I” and “T” exercises, and I understand that I am kind of cheating adding three exercises into one here, but they go together well and I usually give them out all at once. Most people do not address the posterior shoulder stabilizers with workouts, and combining that with poor posture, leads to weakness around the shoulder blade. I hate to say all, but I’m pretty sure that all of my patients with shoulder issues get these exercises (or some variation) as part of their home program.

Prone Extension

Lie on stomach with involved arm hanging off the table. Set shoulder blades back and hold position. In a thumb-up position, slowly raise your arm behind you to table height keeping your elbow straight.

Prone Shoulder Abduction

Lie on stomach with the involved arm hanging off the table. Keeping the elbow straight, pull the shoulder blades back and hold. In a thumb-out position, slowly lift arm sideways to table height and maintain the retracted position as you return to the starting position.

Prone Shoulder Flexion

Lie on stomach with the involved arm hanging off the table. Keeping the elbow straight, pull the shoulder blades backward and hold. Slowly lift arm forward to table height and maintain the retracted position as you return to the starting position.