Athletico Health Resources

If you follow professional baseball, I am sure you have observed an alarming rate of pitchers who underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (“Tommy John surgery”) already this year.  Miami Marlin’s rising star, Jose Fernandez, became the 18^th professional pitcher in 2014 to undergo this surgery, equaling the total number of pitchers to have Tommy John surgery all of last year.¹

Why does this trend continue to rise? (more…)

Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger, Judy Micek, OT at Athletico Bolingbrook.

Calling all couch potatoes…Spring is here and with it warm weather sports. With sportsmanship and exercise as great benefits of team sports, many Chicagoans are anxiously awaiting the return of softball season. However, catching that 16” softball can lead to some painful finger injuries or wrist injuries from sliding into base, that shouldn’t be ignored…and they may need more than just ice and rest! (more…)

Today’s blog post is written by guest blogger, Ryan Mertz, PT, DPT, CSCS. Ryan is also the Team Physical Therapist for the Chicago Cubs.

Much has remained constant in the game of professional baseball over the last 100 years, such as the distance from the pitching rubber to the plate, but significantly more has changed. Players are bigger, faster and stronger. Spectators know the speed and break of every pitch and that a ballpark hotdog costs an arm and a leg. With the progression of the game through technology, research and physical development standards, much of the lessons learned at the pro level have now trickled down into amateur baseball. (more…)

It’s baseball and softball season and that means three things to me as an athletic trainer: hot dogs, bleachers and shoulder pain. While all three of those cause discomfort in their own way, I find shoulder pain to be the most pertinent to be addressed by my skill set. I’ve found that a majority of shoulder pain stems from a few of the following avoidable mistakes made by overhead athletes. (more…)