What To What Out For In Camp.... Volume 1

After the first few days of just helmets and getting through heat acclimation comes the next stage of camp... pads. First starts with shells (helmets and shoulder pads), not officially considered the first day of full pads but the intensity is all the same.

As the days go on one injury that can start to emerge is rotator cuff tendinitis. The pounding on the shoulders, and overhead reaching, pressing, tackling, falling, the repetitive up-downs, burpees, or whatever you call it in your area, the pain begins. Let's take a deeper dive into this injury:

The rotator cuff are 4 muscles that surround the shoulder and work to keep the ball of the humerus into the socket of the scapula. This action is the stability needed to accomplish basic tasks like lifting a plate overhead, or pushing a 250# defensive lineman off the line of scrimmage. When a tendon attached to one of these muscles gets irritated or slightly torn there can be pain associated with it.

Key painful movements:

- Pain lifting the arm out to the side

- Pain lifting forward from about chest to head height

- Tenderness along the outside aspect of the shoulder

- Weakness and pain when rotating the arm out to the side

Treatment for this time of injury will include:

- Instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization

- Shoulder mobilizations using manual therapy

- Exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff "On Ignite Youtube page"

- Dry Needling

- Stability based exercises "On Ignite Youtube page"

The typical recovery time for an acute rotator cuff tendinitis can be a few days to 4 weeks with varying degrees of pain being reported by the player.  If treatment is sought after quickly and the proper treatments are implemented then the athlete has a better chance of returning to the field pain free quicker.  In chronic cases of rotator cuff pain the limitations can last up to 3 months. 

When it comes to treating football players, you have to know the game and what it takes to be on the field.

Check back to see another common injury seen in camp!